Where the Menendez Brothers’ Legal Paths to Freedom Stand
In November, approximately six weeks following the release of Ryan Murphy’s controversial series “Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story” which reached the top 10 on Netflix, Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles’ new district attorney, emerged as a significant figure in the brothers’ 35-year legal battle. George Gascon, who faced intense criticism, was ousted by voters after multiple attempts to recall him and public outcry over his lenient crime policies. In November, following these events, Gascon relinquished his position as the city’s top law enforcement official to Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, who won the vote due to voter dissatisfaction with Gascon’s progressive policies. On the steps of L.A.’s courthouse after being sworn in, Hochman mentioned to the press that he was already considering focusing on the Menendez case and their potential resentencing – a process which Gascon had initiated earlier, as a perceived attempt to win over voters, by suggesting that the life imprisonment sentences without the possibility of parole should be reconsidered in a letter to a local judge.