Following efforts by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón to have the Menendez brothers resentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents, California Governor Gavin Newsom has decided to send the case back to the D.A.’s office. The governor stated that the decision to pursue resentencing will be in the hands of Gascón’s successor, Nathan Hochman, who was elected to take office as District Attorney on December 2.
In a statement issued on November 18, Newsom’s office emphasized, “The Governor respects the role of the District Attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility.” The statement continued, “The Governor will defer to the D.A.-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case before making any clemency decisions.”
Gascón had publicly supported the brothers’ petition for clemency, announcing his stance during an October 24 press conference. He formally submitted the request to the governor’s office on October 30. However, just days later, Gascón lost his re-election bid to Hochman, who has not yet taken a public position on the case.
During an October debate, Hochman expressed his intention to thoroughly examine the facts of the case, noting, “You would certainly not have me hold a press conference to tell you I’m just thinking about it.” He also questioned the timing of Gascón’s comments on the case, calling it “incredibly suspicious,” although Gascón defended his actions, stating his office had been working on the Menendez brothers’ case for months prior to the election.
The Menendez case has recently regained public attention, partly due to the release of Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, a Netflix series that reexamines the infamous killings. Gascón admitted that the series helped bring the case back into the media spotlight, prompting his office to address the issue more publicly. “When a recent Netflix documentary came out, we immediately started getting bombarded with media requests and calls because the case came back again to the surface,” Gascón explained. “Rather than answer one media request at a time, we decided to clearly say where we stand.”
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