L.A. prosecutor says Menendez brothers must fully admit to lies to be freed

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) - Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman on Monday said Lyle and Erik Menendez must fully acknowledge lies they told about the shotgun murder of their parents 35 years ago before he would support their release from prison.

"We have laid out a pathway for the Menendez brothers to potentially get out of jail. It requires them to finally, after 30-plus years, fully acknowledge and completely accept responsibility for the entire breadth of the crimes and all the lies that they have told," Hochman told a press conference.

The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, at their Beverly Hills home on August 20, 1989.

The case captivated the U.S. in the 1990s because of the brothers' wealth and privilege as sons of a record company and entertainment industry executive. Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18 years old at the time of the murders. They are now 57 and 54.

A recent Netflix documentary series raised new evidence to support their claims they were sexually abused by their parents, which led the previous district attorney, George Gascon, to advocate resentencing them to a lesser crime and releasing them.

Hochman said he is prepared to go forward with a resentencing hearing scheduled for March 20-21 but will ask the judge to withdraw Gascon's request for resentencing.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos, who is pursuing several tracks to free the brothers, did not immediately respond to the prosecutor's press conference.

Hochman, who unseated Gascon in November's election, first indicated he would break with the previous district attorney on February 21, when he said he opposed a new trial for the Menendez brothers and cast doubt on whether they had been sexually abused by their parents.

Hochman on Monday further detailed his opposition to leniency, saying the brothers have yet to demonstrate full insight into their crime and have only acknowledged four of 20 lies they told to cover their tracks.

The brothers at first denied involvement and attempted to make the shooting look like an organized crime hit but later admitted killing their parents, claiming self defense. A jury convicted them of first-degree murder after the second of two highly publicized trials, the first of which ended in a hung jury.

Hochman invited them to "finally come clean with the court, with the public, with the D.A.'s office, with their own family members, and acknowledge all these lies."

Some members of the Menendez family have supported the brothers' release, including the sisters of Jose and Kitty Menendez. One notable exception - Milton Anderson, the brother of Kitty Menendez - died recently. Anderson had repeatedly opposed their release and disputed the abuse claims.

Separately, Governor Gavin Newsom, who has the power to commute their sentences, has asked the parole board to consider whether the Menendez brothers would represent a public safety risk if released.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)