Menendez brothers' relatives criticize DA's opposition to new trial, "grateful" for Newsom's decision

Family members of the Menendez brothers pushing for their release criticized the Los Angeles County district attorney's opposition to a new trial Thursday while saying they're "incredibly grateful" Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken a step toward clemency.

"This is a pretty exciting time for us as the family of Lyle and Erik Menendez," their cousin, Annamaria Baralt, said during a Zoom call with reporters, referring to the governor ordering the state parole board to complete a risk assessment report on the brothers. It's the first stage in a longer process toward clemency in which they will face a hearing to decide if they can be freed from prison.

"For our family, it is a huge sigh of relief that someone in a seat of power is paying attention to what we have seen up close since Erik and Lyle have been incarcerated," Baralt said of the progress she and other supporters say the brothers have made. "Inmates have seen it, corrections officers have seen it, and now we need the entire criminal justice system to see it."

After spending more than 35 years behind bars, the brothers convicted of shooting their parents to death in August 1989 have a chance at freedom through three possible legal avenues. Along with clemency, they could be resentenced or a judge could grant their habeas petition seeking to have their first-degree murder convictions tossed out and be given a new trial.

They will face a resentencing hearing on March 20 and 21. LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said he has not reached a decision yet on whether to recommend resentencing, with the decision then handed off to a judge.

Last week, Hochman laid out the brothers' case in explaining why the DA's office opposes their habeas petition. He said the credibility of what their lawyers describe as new evidence in the petition is in question since the brothers lied multiple times throughout the investigation. The prosecutor also said allegations of abuse — the central focus of the new evidence — is not actually a determinant of whether they acted in self-defense and whether they're guilty of murder. 

"The jury was not asked to decide if the Menendez brothers were sexually abused by their father and their mother failed to stop it, only if the Menendez brothers committed these murders willfully, deliberately and with premeditation or in self-defense," reads the DA's informal response to the habeas petition filed Friday. 

But that argument was slammed by Baralt and Tamara Goodell, the brothers' second cousin, as they responded to the DA's decision while speaking with reporters Thursday. 

"No one is disputing the crime — not even Erik and Lyle," Baralt said.

"We were surprised to see it litigated the way that it was with the press," Baralt said. "The danger of presenting that 1990s narrative under today's laws and modern understanding of trauma is that it ignores how far we have come in recognizing the long-term effects of abuse and the systemic barriers that keep victims silent."

"Today, we understand that trauma rewires the brain and shapes the person's actions and decisions in ways that were not fully appreciated decades ago," she said, questioning whether Hochman was applying more recent "trauma-informed" legal standards. "Or is he relying on an outdated, harmful framework that has since been rejected?"

While the habeas petition deals with the facts of the case, and whether their first-degree murder convictions should still stand, resentencing primarily depends on whether — and how — the brothers may have rehabilitated while spending decades in prison. Upon recommending resentencing last year, former DA George Gascón said he was making the recommendation based on the brothers' progress, including earning college diplomas, leading support groups and other programs for fellow inmates.