Los Angeles – Erik and Lyle Menéndez’s cousins spoke on Thursday criticizing the recent decision of the Los Angeles district prosecutor to oppose a new trial for the brothers, who have spent almost 30 years in prison for the murder of their parents in 1989.
Menéndez’s cousins applauded the governor of California Gavin Newsom for his decision one day before Order the state probation board to investigate If the brothers would represent a risk to the public if they are released, the first step for the governor to eventually decide whether or not to grant.
The brothers, 18 and 21 at that time, were declared guilty in the murders of their mother, Kitty Menéndez and his executive father of entertainment, José, and sentenced to Life in prison Without probation. They started their last offer for freedom In recent years after their lawyers said new evidence on their father’s sexual abuse and support of most of his extended family.
In a long press conference last week, District prosecutor Nathan Hochman doubts the new evidence of sexual abuse and characterized the testimony of sexual abuse of the brothers and not reliable because they had told five different explanations of why they committed the murder.
Anamarie Baralt, José Menéndez’s niece, called Hochman’s decision “more hurtful” to the family after having had met with his office weeks before sharing your experiences.
“Ignore how far we have arrived by recognizing the long -term effects of abuse and systemic barriers that keep the victims silent,” Baralt said. “The expectation that victims should have immediately revealed their abuse ignores the reality of trauma.”
Baralt said that his relationship with the current administration was different from his with the previous district prosecutor George Gascón, and questioned whether Hochman’s decision took into account the current knowledge of the trauma.
“Are laws applying as it exists today, with a modern understanding and informed by trauma? Or trust an obsolete harmful framework that has been rejected since then, “Baralt said.
Tamara Goodell, the cousin of Tamara Goodell, Erik and Lyle Menéndez, also expressed their disappointment for the lack of recognition of the achievements of the brothers in prison.
She said the brothers, who are now 50, have “created races for themselves” while they are imprisoned, detailing the many support groups and peer initiatives that began in prison.
For Erik Menéndez, this includes a project of alternatives to violence, a series of workshops that promote non -violent conflict resolution; a group of support for disabled and older inmates; and a 12 -step meditation class.
Lyle Menéndez created the Green Space Project for the beautification of prisons through murals and landscaping, “marking the first time the prison administration entrusted an inmate to lead that redesign,” according to Baralt. A group of tutoring for teenagers with corpses also began without the possibility of probation and a bulletin to promote communication within the prison population.
The proposed resentment for the brothers will be held at a March audience and would make them immediately eligible for probation. Hochman said he would share an update on his position in the coming weeks, and that the decision would take into account the rehabilitation of the brothers during their time in prison.
Goodell and Baralt said it was clear for their own interactions with the brothers over the decades that had “immense regret” for their actions the night they killed their parents.
Baralt recalled something that Lyle told him in a 2006 letter.
“He said: ‘I need you to understand that I recognize that my actions are your own personal tragedy and I know that I can never recover it, but I will spend the rest of my life trying to improve it,” Baralt said.
