LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The office of Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman Thursday filed a 132-page response opposing the Menendez brothers‘ bid for a new trial.
Lyle Menendez, 57, and Erik Menendez, 54, have been serving a sentence of life without parole for murdering their parents – Jose and Kitty Menendez – in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. A judge in May resentenced the brothers to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole.
The brothers will appear in front of the state parole board Aug. 21 and 22. If the board determines they are eligible for parole, Gov. Gavin Newsom must review the decision before they are released.
The brothers have submitted a petition for habeas corpus asking the court to grant them a new trial in light of the new evidence presented.
The new evidence included a newly discovered letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in which he describes being abused by his father, and a declaration from Menudo boy band member Roy Rossello that he was raped by Jose Menendez in the 1980s.
The brothers have claimed they committed the killings in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father. Prosecutors argued the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
After a review of the habeas corpus petition, Hochman said it “does not come close to meeting the factual or legal standard to warrant a new trial.”
“The central defense of the Menendez brothers at trial has always been self-defense, not sexual abuse,” Hochman said in a statement. “The jury rejected this self-defense defense in finding them guilty of the horrific murders they perpetrated; five different appellate state and federal courts have affirmed those convictions, and nothing in the so-called ‘new’ evidence challenges any of those determinations.
“Our opposition to this ‘Hail Mary’ effort to obtain a new trial over 30 years later makes clear that justice, the facts, and the law demand the convictions stand.”
Hochman has repeatedly opposed the brothers’ efforts to be released.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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