The case of the Menéndez brothers: The latest on the Menéndez brothers: DA has a ‘productive’ meeting with the family but has not yet made a decision

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County district attorney met with the Menendez brothers’ relatives on Friday but said he is still reviewing the facts of the case and has not yet decided whether to support the brothers’ bid for freedom.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that when he took office on Dec. 3, he promised to review all the facts in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez. He said that effort has involved reviewing thousands of pages of confidential prison records, trial transcripts, speaking with all the prosecutors and defense attorneys involved and reviewing court records.

Hochman said that effort continues and noted that he has not finished reviewing all of the prison records from the decades the brothers were behind bars.

More than 20 of Menendez’s relatives met with Hochman on Friday as they continue to push for the brothers’ release from prison.

Hochman described the conversation as “very productive” and “in some ways an informal, off-the-record discussion.”

“They gave me all their thoughts about what should happen, the experiences they wanted to share, the ultimate direction they wanted this case to take,” he said.

Hochman did not reveal the details of the conversation.

In a brief speech to reporters, Anamaría Baralt, cousin of the Menéndez brothers, spoke after the family’s meeting with Hochman on Friday afternoon.

“We had a meeting with the district attorney and are grateful for his time,” he said in a statement. “I want to reiterate our position as a family and as families of the victims that this 35-year process has been incredibly traumatizing for us, as I’m sure you can all imagine.”

He said the family hoped to see the brothers’ immediate release, and said going before a parole board “will only serve to re-traumatize us.”

Former District Attorney George Gascón announced in October that he was recommending that the brothers’ life sentence without parole be lifted and that they instead be convicted of murder, which would be a 50-year sentence. to life imprisonment. Because both brothers were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately with the new sentence.

The district attorney’s office said its resentencing recommendations take into account many factors, including rehabilitation in prison and the abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascón praised the work Lyle and Erik Menéndez did behind bars to rehabilitate themselves and help other inmates.

Weeks after Gascón’s announcement, he lost his re-election race to Hochman.

Erik and Lyle Menendez will next appear in court for a resentencing hearing on January 30-31.

This comes on the heels of an attorney for the brothers requesting to move the case from the district attorney’s office to the California Attorney General’s Office, alleging a conflict of interest between Hochman and Kathleen Cady, whom Hoch just named director from the department’s Office of Victim Services. .

Cady recently resigned as an attorney for Milton Anderson, the only Menendez relative who has been pushing to keep the brothers in prison.

Hochman said Friday that Cady is “isolated from the Menendez case.”

Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted in 1996 of the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, who were shot to death in the family’s Beverly Hills home.

The defense claimed the brothers acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse by their father, but prosecutors alleged they killed for money.

Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were 21 and 18 years old at the time of the crime, respectively, were sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

In addition to the new sentence, the brothers have followed two other paths to freedom.

In 2023, the brothers filed a writ of habeas corpus to have new evidence not presented at trial reviewed.

They also submitted a request for clemency to California Governor Gavin Newsom. In November, Newsom said he would undergo Hochman’s “review and analysis of the Menendez case” before making any clemency decision.

ABC News’ Amanda M. Morris contributed to this report.