A judge in Van Nuys will consider Friday a request by Erik and Lyle Menendez to remove and exclude the entire LA County District Attorney's Office from their upcoming resentencing hearing, after the brothers complained in court papers that DA Nathan Hochman's personnel decisions and treatment of the brothers' relatives showed he's biased.
LA Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic will also address the admissibility of new risk assessment reports on the brothers, which may contain previously-unseen information about the suitability of their potential release back into society.
In court papers filed last month, Menendez defense attorneys said DA Hochman's decisions to remove the two deputy district attorneys, who authored a motion in support of reducing the brothers' prison terms, and to later rehire a former prosecutor who once opposed resentencing demonstrated there was an office-wide opposition to the brothers' efforts to win release.
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WATCH HEREDefense lawyer Mark Geragos also said several alleged instances of improper treatment of the brothers' family members amounted to violations of Marsy's Law, which entitles crime victims some participation in the justice system.
Both the LA County District Attorney's Office and the California Attorney General's Office filed oppositions to the removal, saying that the Menendez complaints did not meet the legal threshold for the removal of a single prosecutor, let alone the entire DA's office, and that Marsy's Law doesn't apply in the ways presented by the defense.
"Defendants fail to demonstrate how any Marsy's Law factor reveals bias against them by the District Attorney," said the Attorney General's response, which also noted that even if there was a violation, Marsy's Law does not include the removal of the DA as a remedy.
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SIGN UP A protective order was filed last week in order to prevent the public release of Comprehensive Risk Assessment reports completed by state corrections officials at the direction of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The governor said those reports could be shared with the court considering their resentencing, but Judge Jesic said he wanted to formally address the potential admissibility after Geragos objected to their use during a hearing April 20.
Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving life-without-parole terms for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Separately from the possible resentencing, they have filed a writ of habeas corpus in order to try to challenge the constitutionality of their punishment and have asked the governor to grant clemency, which could lead to a near-immediate release from prison.
NBC4 investigative reporter Eric Leonard is breaking developments from the Menendez brothers case in his podcast, "The Leonard Files." Subscribe to the NBCLA YouTube channel to follow along.
