What to Know
- Los Angeles County District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman told NBC News he wants to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts of the Menendez brothers murder case.
- Hochman was projected to win the district attorney's election race over incumbent George Gascón, who announced plans a few weeks before Election Day to review the 1989 murder case.
- Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving life-without-parole terms for the shotgun murders of their parents inside the family’s Beverly Hills home.
Los Angeles county's next top prosecutor will likely seek a delay in the Menendez brothers' re-sentencing case at a December hearing as he seeks to review facts and evidence in the decades-old case, multiple sources close to Los Angeles County District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman told NBC News.
The sources said "there is a good chance" Hochman will seek the delay at a previously scheduled for Dec. 11 hearing.
Hochman said he wants to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law. That includes reviewing the confidential prison files for each brother and transcripts from both trials, and speaking to prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel, and the victims' family members.
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"Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers' case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law," Hochman tsaid. "Only then can I make a decision."
Hochman was projected to win the district attorney's race over incumbent George Gascón, who announced plans a few weeks before Election Day to review the 1989 murder case. The brothers, Erik and Lyle, are serving life-without-parole terms for the shotgun murders of their parents inside the family’s Beverly Hills home.
One aspect of Hochman's review will focus on the re-sentencing memo filed by prosecutors for Gascón recommending changing the life without possibility of parole sentence for both brothers to two first-degree murder counts for each that, if accepted by the court, would allow them both to be immediately parole eligible.
Before the filing of that motion, there was internal debate within DA's office over whether to seek re-sentencing on voluntary manslaughter. That could have led to the immediate release of the brothers but the argument did not prevail as prosecutors ultimately filed the re-sentencing on the first degree murder counts.
Gascón's campaign issued a statement Wednesday that the DA had spoken with Hochman to congratulate him on the election.
"I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities who have been and will always be the heart of criminal justice reform," the statement said.
NBCLA's Jonathan Lloyd contributed to this report.
