Supporters hold rally for Menendez brothers amid efforts to get them released
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Relatives and supporters of Erik and Lyle Menendez held a rally and news conference Thursday amid continued efforts to get them released.
Dozens of people who want Erik and Lyle Menendez released from prison gathered outside the office of Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who has said he does not support reducing the brothers' sentences, unless they take responsibility for what he calls past lies.
The extended family held a news conference in front of the Los Angeles County's Criminal Courthouse.
The Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, a family-led initiative fighting for their release, claims the brothers suffered terrible abuse at the hands of their father, and have admitted guilt and apologized.
"He stands at a podium and repeats the same arguments made in 1996, arguments that erased their abuse, arguments that failed them then and continue to fail them now," said Anamaria Balart, cousin of the Menendez brothers.
They say Hochman continues to dismiss the brothers' years of abuse by their father, and their rehabilitation since their murder convictions decades ago.
Hochman said he would reconsider resentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez only if the brothers admitted to what he said are decades of lies, doubling down on his stance in a new interview with ABC News.
"If they sincerely and unequivocally admit for the first time in over 30 years, the full range of their criminal activity and all the lies that they have told about it," Hochman told ABC News chief national correspondent Matt Gutman that he would then be willing to recommend resentencing.
The remarks come after Hochman announced last week that he's asking the court to withdraw his predecessor's motion for resentencing, arguing that the brothers do not meet the standards for resentencing or rehabilitation because they "persist in telling these lies for the last over 30 years about their self-defense defense."
Asked by Gutman if he has a checklist of each individual lie, Hochman said, "I actually do."
"The essence of that checklist is that they'd have to finally admit after 30 years, they killed their parents willfully, deliberately and in a premeditated fashion, not because they believed that their parents were going to kill them that night," Hochman said.
Hochman said his office has identified 20 lies that they have told since the day of the murder, and that the brothers have admitted to four of them while there are 16 additional lies "that are the essence of their self-defense" that remain unacknowledged.
When asked if the brothers would admit to those lies, their cousin Baralt said: "I can't imagine a world where they would do that."
Hochman deflected on whether the brothers were definitively sexually abused by their father, as they, and surviving family members have stated for decades. But Hochman stressed that sex abuse was never their defense.
"There was no additional corroboration of anyone in 12 years -- whether it was another adult, a friend, a coach, a teacher -- who reported on any recipient information that the sexual abuse occurred during those 12 years. But was there evidence presented at trial? Yes. Was it the defense that the Menendezes used to first-degree murder? Absolutely not," Hochman said. "That is what we have focused on."
Menendez family members who want the brothers released have said the brothers endured horrific abuse, have admitted guilt and apologized, and have pushed back against Hochman's insistence that the brothers weren't sexually abused, with one cousin calling the district attorney's tone "hostile, dismissive and patronizing."
Of the brothers three tracks to freedom - clemency from Governor Gavin Newsom may represent their best chance.
Newsom ordered a risk assessment to determine if the brothers pose a threat to public safety should they be released.
The hearing on L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman's motion to withdraw the resentencing motion by previous DA George Gascón was initially scheduled for March 20. It is now set for April 11, ABC News has learned.
Depending on what the court decides, a resentencing hearing could happen on April 17 or 18.
ABC News contributed to this report.
