A prosecutor at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office is wary of a new piece of evidence that could help see Erik and Lyle Menendez set free.
Juan Mejia, who was a young deputy district attorney during the brother’s second murder trial, questions the legitimacy of a new letter that entered into evidence in May 2023.
In the undated note, first revealed by DailyMail.com, Erik writes to his now-dead cousin Andy Cano that he has ‘been trying to avoid dad’ and that ‘it’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now,’ alluding to the sexual abuse he experience at the hands of his father.
Mejia, who opposes the brothers’ release, said he questions the evidence because the Menendez brothers’ attorneys have yet to hand over the original copy and the letter is not dated.
‘We can’t tell if it was written before the murders or after the conviction,’ he told NBC News. ‘Are they trying to pull another fast one on the court?’
It was announced last month, DA George Gascón – who lost his reelection bid on Tuesday – that recommended the brothers for resentencing. A hearing on the brother’s resentencing is scheduled for December 10
Juan Mejia, who was a young deputy district attorney during the brother’s second murder trial, questions the legitimacy of a new letter that entered into evidence in May 2023. ‘We can’t tell if it was written before the murders or after the conviction,’ he said
Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alludes to serious, and long-term, abuse at the hands of his father Jose
Cano, who died in 2003, testified before a jury that Erik told him about his father’s abuse when he was 13. His mother found the letter nine years ago, and it was included in a 2023 petition to examine whether the brothers were unlawfully imprisoned.
Despite the fact that Mejia agrees the brothers more than like meet the resentencing standards, he doesn’t thing there is any ‘justification for shooting your mom eight times with a shotgun and reloaded.’
The brothers were sentenced to life with parole for the 1989 killing of their parents, who they shot multiple times in their home.
The brothers’ case has been thrust back into the spotlight 35 years after the killings thanks to the popular Netflix docuseries Monsters.
Many of their newfound fans believe the boys should have been convicted of manslaughter instead of murder. If they had been, they would have already completed their sentence and been set free.
DA George Gascón- who lost his reelection bid on Tuesday – announced last month that he had recommended the brothers for resentencing and said he wanted to see the pair’s speedy release.
Despite the fact that Mejia agrees the brothers more than like meet the resentencing standards, he doesn’t thing there is any ‘justification for shooting your mom eight times with a shotgun and reloaded’
Gascón argues the brothers are not a risk to public safety as they’ve been ‘exceptional prisoners all the way around’ during their incarcerations, and have paid their dues
But on Election Day, Los Angeles County voters dramatically booted Gascon out and replaced him with Republican-turned-Independent Nate Hochman – jeopardizing the resentencing process.
Hochman, 60, takes office on December 2 and has already said he plans to review Gascón’s decision on the brothers.
In a statement to CNN following his victory, he said: ‘Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers’ case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law.’
The former federal prosecutor added: ‘I will have to review the confidential prison files for each brother, the transcripts from both trials, and speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel, and the victims’ family members.
On December 11, a hearing on the brother’s resentencing is scheduled. But Hochman told CNN that if he needs more time to review the request, he ‘will ask the court for that time.’
Former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Pamela Bozanich doesn’t agree with Gascón call for a resentencing, nor does she believe the boys were abused.
‘They killed their parents. They slaughtered their mother,’ she told NBC. ‘Why should they live among us?’
Mejia is also wary of the brothers’ history of fabrication, including Lyle allegedly trying to get people to lie for the defense trial, and the fact that they spent loads of money after the deaths.
But Gascón argues the brothers are not a risk to public safety as they’ve been ‘exceptional prisoners all the way around’ during their incarcerations, and have paid their dues.
