Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Los Angeles’ newly-elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman said on Friday that he has asked the court to reject the Menendez brothers’ request for a new trial. This comes months after former DA George Gascon cited new evidence in the form of a letter suggesting the brothers may have been abused by their father as a reason for a new trial.Hochman cited issues with the evidence, claiming it didn’t meet a high enough standard for a new trial. MENENDEZ BROTHERS DISCUSS ‘BULLYING AND TRAUMA’ IN PRISON IN RARE PUBLIC REMARKS, NEW PODCAST INTERVIEW “We looked again at the credibility of the letters, particularly this Andy Cano 1988 supposed letter weighed in the continuum of lies, and it calls into drastic question whether this is in fact a 1988 letter written by Erik Menendez to Andy Cano about this sexual abuse,” Hochman said in a Friday news conference. The letter was allegedly written eight months before the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano, and detailed alleged sexual abuse by their father. The letter wasn’t found until several years ago, the Menendez brothers’ attorney said. PROSECUTORS ON MENENDEZ BROTHERS CASE SUE LA DAHochman added, “Again, even if it is, it’s not timely because it was not presented at the time of trial, they substantially delayed in bringing this motion from at least 2015 to 2023, and in certain respects it’s also not admissible, which is why we conclude in our informal response that the court should deny the current habeas petition by the Menendez brothers. And if the court decides not to deny it at this point, the next move for the court is to order what’s called an order to show cause.” He said his office would refile his reasons again in response to an order to show cause, and “the Menendezes can reply, and the court can rule at that point or have a hearing in the habeas matter.”Hochman also noted that California Gov. Gavin Newsom has the clemency petition on his desk and “he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and we will be dealing in the next couple of weeks with the resentencing issue.” Lyle and Erik Menendez were found guilty in 1996 of the 1989 killing of their parents and sentenced to life in prison without parole.The Menendez brothers’ family condemned Hochman’s decision in a statement shared with Fox News Digital by their legal team. “District Attorney Nathan Hochman took us right back to 1996 today. He opened the wounds we have spent decades trying to heal,” the statement said. “He didn’t listen to us. We are profoundly disappointed by his remarks, in which he effectively tore up new evidence and discredited the trauma they experienced. To suggest that the years of abuse couldn’t have led to the tragedy in 1989 is not only outrageous, but also dangerous. “Abuse does not exist in a vacuum. It leaves lasting scars, rewires the brain, and traps victims in cycles of fear and trauma. To say it played no role in Erik and Lyle’s action is to ignore decades of psychological research and basic human understanding.” The statement added that it was “absurd” for Hochman to say that the evidence should have been submitted at the trial. “The justice system failed Erik and Lyle then, and it continues to fail them now,” it went onn “The fact remains: the jury in their second trial never heard the full truth. Key testimony was kept from them, and now, DA Hochman is attempting to erase this reality once again. He is not just dismissing Erik and Lyle’s experiences, he is silencing survivors everywhere who know what it’s like to be disbelieved, ignored, and retraumatized by a system designed to protect them.” It said Hochman promised to “take politics out of prosecutorial decisions, but his actions today say otherwise. If he is truly committed to justice, he will follow the law and issue a resentencing recommendation that reflects Erik and Lyle’s overwhelming rehabilitation, and the undeniable standards set by California Penal Code 1172.1 and AB 600. And he will stop trying to bury the truth about their abuse.””For over three decades, our family has lived with the weight of what Erik and Lyle endured – abuse that shaped their lives, fear that defined their childhood, and a justice system that refused to see them as victims,” the family continued. “We have fought tirelessly for the truth to be recognized.”The family said their hope is now with “Judge Jesic, that he will examine the evidence in their case without prejudice, carefully adhering to California law with modern understanding of trauma.””Our family has been waiting 35 years for the justice system to acknowledge what we have always known,” the statement closed. “We are so incredibly proud of the men Erik and Lyle have become – men who have dedicated their lives to helping others, despite believing they would never have a second chance. We have fought and advocated tirelessly for their release, so that we can heal and finally move forward. All we are asking for is to right this decades-long injustice.”
