(NewsNation) — Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman maintains his position that he is not against Lyle and Erik Menendez having their day in court for a resentencing hearing, but that he just does not think it should happen now.
The Menendez brothers, who have served nearly 30 years in prison for the slaying of their parents, will appear in court next week for the hearing. The Menendez family has tried to have Hochman disqualified from the proceedings, claiming the prosecutor has a conflict of interest in the matter.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of shooting and killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home in 1989. They were sentenced to life in prison without parole at ages 18 and 21.
Hochman told NewsNation that he holds to his “not yet” reasoning because the Menendez brothers have yet to fully accept responsibility for the killing of their parents or for the way they attempted to cover up their actions. Family members have told NewsNation that the two brothers have shown remorse and taken responsbility in a private setting with relatives.
“At no point in the last 30 years have they said, ‘Look, we basically have lied,’” Hochman said. “We’ve engaged in this conduct and we’re ready for resentencing.”
Hochman said he met with the Menendez family for three hours and listened to their reasoning for the two brothers to be released. But then, he said he considered the facts of the case and decided the brothers were not yet ready for release.
Hochman said that he reviewed tens of thousands of pages of transcripts and hours of video and spoke with experts and attorneys associated with the case to come up with his reasoning that the brothers should not yet be considered for resentencing.
Because the two sides disagree, Hochman said that the family has chosen to attack him.
“There’s an old saying that if you can pound the facts, pound the law. If you can’t pound the law, pound the facts,” he said. “And if you can’t pound the facts and the law, pound the prosecutor. That is basically where the defense counsel is at. It’s a desperate move to get away from the facts and the law of resentencing and just attack me in a meritless and baseless way.”
