Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said during a press conference at the Hall of Justice on Thursday afternoon that Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents and are serving life sentences, should be resentenced by the court to life with the possibility of parole.
He began by saying that there were vastly differing views within the DA’s office on the Menendez case, saying “this is a case where we’ve had many people in this office spend a great deal of time review of the case [sic].”
Gascón continued, “I have to tell you that unequivocally, we don’t have a universal agreement. There are people in the office that strongly believe that the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their lives, and they do not believe that they were molested. And there are people in the office who believe that they should be released immediately, and that they were in fact molested.”
“After very careful review, of all of the arguments that were made from people on both sides of this equation, I came to a place where I believe under the law, resentencing is appropriate, and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow.”
He said his office would recommend to the court that “life without the possibility of parole be removed,” and “that they would be sentenced for murder which, because there were two murders involved, that would be 50 years to life. However, because of their age….since they were under 26 years of age at the time that these crimes occurred, they would be eligible for parole immediately.”
He told a reporter that it was “evaluating” the various opinions within his office on the case that led to him making this move.
“There is nothing political” about this decision, he said, becoming testy at several points of the Q and A, refusing to “talk about reelection” during the press conference and suggesting that any reporter who has “reelection questions” should “talk about it outside later” with him.
The media has good reason to ask. Polling as recently as late September shows that DA Gascón is down 24 points to challenger Nathan Hochman.
The survey, conducted by researchers at USC, CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona, shows Gascón trailing his challenger by 24 points. About 44% of likely voters said they plan to support Hochman while 20% back Gascón. Nearly 33% of voters remain undecided, according to the poll.
…
“The poll also shows that voters are concerned about crime, and those with crime concerns are more likely to support Hochman,” said Christian Grose, professor of political science and international relations and public policy at the USC Price School of Public Policy.
Read related: State of the Los Angeles DA Race – George Gascon Faces Likely Ouster
It’s also worth asking if Gascón is trying to finish off his checklist of “justice reform” projects before California voters boot him out at the beginning of December (when Hochman, if elected, would be sworn in). This is a breaking story; RedState will provide updates once they become available.
You can watch his full statement below:
