When Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said earlier this month that he would revisit the famous murder case of Erik and Lyle Menendez and decide whether to ask a judge to consider resentencing the brothers, some people – including his political rival – questioned the timing of his announcement.
Gascón, a Democrat who was swept into office in 2020 thanks to a progressive voter base made up of criminal justice reform advocates, is trailing by double digits in the polls in his bid for reelection this November.
And on Thursday, Oct. 24, his opponent in the D.A. race, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, accused the incumbent of using the Menendez brothers’ high-profile case to score political points. In a statement, Hochman said the D.A.’s office received a petition back in May 2023 and a request to resentence them in February of this year.
The Menendez brothers are serving life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole. But Gascón said Thursday he will ask a judge to consider reducing the brothers’ sentences down to life with the possibility of parole. Because the murders were committed when the brothers were younger than 26 years old, it effectively would allow them to be released from prison immediately.
Hochman said Gascón waited until “days before the Nov. 5 election, 30 points down in the polls” to release his recommendation for resentencing the Menendez brothers.
“By releasing it now, Gascón has cast a cloud over the fairness and impartiality of his decision, allowing Angelenos to question whether the decision was correct and just — or just another desperate political move by a D.A. running a losing campaign scrambling to grab headlines through a made-for-TV decision,” Hochman said.
Gascón rejected claims that his decision was politically motivated.
“There’s nothing political about this,” Gascón said during a Thursday news conference about his plans to ask a court to consider resentencing the Menendez…
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