Erik & Lyle Menendez’s New Trial Request Opposed by DA Nathan Hochman

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s fight for a new trial won’t be getting the approval of L.A. County DA Nathan Hochman.

On Friday, Hochman announced that he’s recommending the judge deny their request.

After a thorough look at the case, Hochman told the media in a press conference, “We conclude, in our informal response, that the court should deny the current habeas petition by the Menendez brothers.”

The brothers are requesting a new trial based on new evidence, including Roy Rosselló’s sexual abuse allegations against Erik and Lyle’s father Jose Menendez and a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano about his father’s alleged sexual abuse.

According to Hochman, the letter is “not credible evidence,” adding, “It’s not timely because it was not presented at time of trial.”

Hochman noted that Cano has already died, so he can’t corroborate the authenticity of the letter.  

Moreover, Hochman argued that the sexual abuse allegations are irrelevant to the 1989 murder of Lyle and Erik’s parents.

Hochman believes that sexual abuse doesn’t justify the brothers’ actions, emphasizing, “It does not constitute self-defense.”

In response to Hochman’s press conference, the Menendez brothers’ family blasted the DA for dismissing the sexual abuse claims. 

In a statement obtained by "Extra," they said, “District Attorney Nathan Hochman took us right back to 1996 today. He opened the wounds we have spent decades trying to heal. He didn’t listen to us. We are profoundly disappointed by his remarks, in which he effectively tore up new evidence and discredited the trauma they experienced. To suggest that the years of abuse couldn’t have led to the tragedy in 1989 is not only outrageous, but also dangerous. Abuse does not exist in a vacuum. It leaves lasting scars, rewires the brain, and traps victims in cycles of fear and trauma. To say it played no role in Erik and Lyle’s action is to ignore decades of psychological research and basic human understanding.”

As for his argument that the evidence should have been submitted at the 1996 trial, the family called it “absurd.” They went on, “The justice system failed Erik and Lyle then, and it continues to fail them now. The fact remains: the jury in their second trial never heard the full truth. Key testimony was kept from them, and now, DA Hochman is attempting to erase this reality once again. He is not just dismissing Erik and Lyle’s experiences, he is silencing survivors everywhere who know what it’s like to be disbelieved, ignored, and retraumatized by a system designed to protect them.”

The family called out Hochman for “trying to bury the truth about their abuse,” emphasizing, “If he is truly committed to justice, he will follow the law and issue a resentencing recommendation that reflects Erik and Lyle’s overwhelming rehabilitation, and the undeniable standards set by California Penal Code 1172.1 and AB 600.”

The family is now looking to the judge, saying, “Our hope now rests with Judge Jesic, that he will examine the evidence in their case without prejudice, carefully adhering to California law with modern understanding of trauma… All we are asking for is to right this decades-long injustice.”

The Menendez brothers will be attending a resentencing hearing in March, which could determine their fate in prison.

The two have been in prison for 35 years after they were convicted of murdering their parents in 1996.

Lyle recently discussed their potential resentencing and release from prison during a phone interview with Mark Geragos and Harvey Levin for their TMZ podcast “2 Angry Men.”