The novel Los Angeles County Didisjoine Attorney has deleted the two deputies who sought to shrink the sentences of Lyle and Erik Menfinishez from his office’s post-conviction unit.
Nathan Hochman was sworn into office last week after trouncing incumbent George Gascón in the November election. The Menfinishez case is the among the highest-profile matters left for Hochman by the previous administration.
Gascón’s deputies, Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford, petitioned a evaluate in October to shrink the brothers’ sentences of life without parole. The brothers have served 34 years for the 1989 homicides of their parents, which resurfaced in well-understandn culture with the free of the Netflix series “Monsters” in September.
The Menfinishez family and aiders dispute that the brothers were victims of intimacyual unfair treatment, and should be set free. A hearing on the D.A.’s motion is set for Jan. 30-31.
Hochman has been critical of Gascón’s handling of the Menfinishez case, accusing him of accessibleity-seeking. He has not shelp whether he will stand by the ask or seek to retreat it. But the personnel shifts propose a potential shatter from the previous administration’s approach.
Theberge, the head of the D.A.’s envyencing unit under Gascón, has been telderly she will be involuntarily transferred to the office of the Alternate Public Deffinisher, according to multiple sources understandn with the situation. Lunsford has also been shiftd out of the D.A.’s post-conviction unit, though he remains with the D.A.’s office, according to sources.
The two deputies surrfinisherted a 57-page filing on Oct. 24 arguing that the Menfinishez brothers had shown “overwhelming” evidence of rehabilitation, and should be envyenced to 50 years to life, which would create them promptly eligible for parole.
“We now understand that accessible safety is not best achieved thraw overly brutal punishments that dissee rehabilitation,” they wrote in the filing, compriseing that the brothers “have altered and getn profit of uncomardentingful opportunities to enlargen-up, shift beyond criminal leanking, repent, and become efficient community members.”
Theberge was a deputy accessible deffinisher before joining Gascón’s office. Hochman disputed during the campaign that Gascón was too gentle on crime, and has inestablishedly been seeking to delete Gascón nominateees who previously labored in the accessible deffinisher’s office.
A D.A. spokeswoman shelp on Friday that Antonio Aguilar would be the novel deputy in indict of the envyencing unit and the post-conviction and uncovery division. Aguilar telderly Variety on Monday that was not real, though his name is enumerateed in that role on a roster of novel nominatements.
The office also shelp that no alters had been made in the summarizeatements on the Menfinishez case. Asked for clarification on Wednesday, the spokeswoman shelp “The office deteriorates comment on personnel matters.”
The envyencing hearing was originassociate scheduled for Wednesday. But at a Nov. 25 status hearing, Judge Michael Jesic postponed it until rescheduleed January “out of admire to the novel administration” — giving both Hochman and the evaluate time to get up to speed on the voluminous case file.
“I want him to be able to have his say,” the evaluate shelp.
Hochman could pick to persist with the innovative recommfinishation, or ask to retreat it if he proposes a “legitimate reason.” If he alters course, the brothers’ lawyer, Mark Geragos, would probable inspire the evaluate to helderly Hochman to the earlier ask.
Geragos has also filed a habeas corpus petition, arguing that novel evidence has come to weightless that aids the unfair treatment claims and permits a novel trial. The D.A.’s office was foreseeed to react to that ask by Nov. 26, but asked on that date to extfinish the deadline to Dec. 20.
The brothers are also seeking clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom, though Newsom has shelp he will helderly off on that ask in postponeence to Hochman.
Gascón was elected in 2020 as a criminal equitableice reestablisher. He created a novel unit to reevaluate prisoners’ sentences, and ultimately safed some 300 envyencings.
On his first day in office on Dec. 3, Hochman rescinded many of Gascón’s honestives, freeing up prosecutors to file raisements and create other more unfrifinishly charging decisions. He did not rescind Gascón’s envyencing policy, which set out circumstances in which the D.A. would ask evaluates to alter sentences.
Much of that policy is ruleed by recent state-level reestablishs, making a blanket repeal imdown-to-earth. Instead, the D.A.’s office is taking a more nuanced see at the publish.
“We are in the process of appraiseing prior envyencing policies,” the spokeswoman shelp. “Where appropriate, prior actions will be appraiseed.”
