In a stunning turn of events, the attorney for Erik and Lyle Menendez has withdrawn their motion to recuse Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman and a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge has set their resentencing hearings for next week.
The original April 17 resentencing hearing was halted after Hochman asked that the parties review one component of a comprehensive risk assessment, which is expected to be completed by the parole board by June 13, when a clemency hearing is scheduled.
The one component that was released to the parties for their review 60 days before the June clemency hearing is subject to correction.
The parole board did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.
The May 9 hearing, which took place at a Van Nuys courthouse, was meant to discuss the removal of Hochman, which Hochman opposed.
The motion to recuse Hochman was dropped after the Menendez brothers’ defense team learned that Hochman had paid a crisis PR firm following a motion filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta, who sided with Hochman.
“Part of why he hired them is to be able to be advised on how to deal with the family members and how to address the situation with Eric and Lyle,” attorney Bryan Freedman said outside the courtroom on May 9. “It wasn’t an issue today in court because the motion to recuse was withdrawn.”
Freedman said he was speaking on behalf of the Menendez brothers’ extended family members. Mark Geragos is the Menendez brothers’ defense attorney.
When Hochman asked the court to reject resentencing, Judge Michael Jesic responded, “I don’t see anything new” before setting resentencing for May 13 and May 14.
The resentencing hearings will evaluate whether the brothers have been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a lesser sentence of 50 years to life.
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for fatally shooting their entertainment executive father, José Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home.
The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
After the Menendez brothers had run out of ammunition, Hochman alleged they reloaded the shotgun and shot their mother’s face. He added that the brothers shot both of their parents’ knees to imitate a Mafia hit.
Erik Menendez testified that he had suffered sexual abuse by their father between the ages of 6 and 18, and he also recalled the alleged sexual abuse that his brother, Lyle, had suffered by their father between the ages of 6 and 8.
