Menendez brothers chance at freedom in question after LA district attorney election

Lyle and Erik Menendez’s opportunity for freedom is once again suspended in precarity after the progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney who recommended they be resentenced was ousted by voters.George Gascón, the so-called godfather of progressive prosecutors, announced last month that his office was recommending the two brothers, now in their 50s, should be eligible for parole after spending more than 30 years behind bars for gunning down their wealthy parents in 1989.However on Tuesday, Gascón lost his reelection bid in a landslide to Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, who said he wants to review the case with his own eyes before proceeding.“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 said in a statement on Wednesday, according to The Independent.“I will have to review the confidential prison files for each brother, the transcripts from both trials, and speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel, and the victims’ family members,” he added.Hochman, who successfully campaigned against Gascón’s unpopular criminal justice reforms, will take office on Dec.2 — just nine days before the Menendez brothers’ scheduled hearing to consider Gascón’s request.“If for some reason I need additional time, I will ask the court for that time,” Hochman said.Gascón said last month that his office had been taking a renewed look at the brothers’ case “for over a year” in light of new evidence indicating they had been routinely sexually abused by their father while growing up.The final decision will be left to a judge — but Gascón said the killer siblings had been on “a journey of redemption and rehabilitation” and had “paid their debt to society” for the time they’ve served and all they’ve done to help others while in prison.If a judge agrees with Gascón’s recommendation, resen...