• last month
Incoming Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says one of his first orders of business is tackling Erik and Lyle Melendez's bid for freedom ... and the clock's ticking.

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00:00Well, we had said that the Menendez brothers would be watching the election results very closely
00:04because the election of a new DA in Los Angeles County could mean a lot to their case
00:11if and when they get out of prison.
00:13It seemed they were rooting for the DA George Gascón because he is fully in support of them getting out
00:20and he has said as much. He's advocated for clemency from the governor.
00:24He wants them re-sentenced, which they could get out immediately, but he lost.
00:28Yes, so George Gascón in about a month will be out.
00:31Before the hearing on December 11th where a judge is going to decide whether to re-sentence them,
00:39whether to change the conviction from murder to manslaughter.
00:43So a new DA is going to be in charge then.
00:45Exactly. Nathan Hockman won the election and he will be the guy in charge when that hearing goes down.
00:50So what is his take on this?
00:52Now, we had him on the show a couple of weeks ago.
00:54We asked him about this and he said, look, I can't make that decision until I see all the stuff.
01:00Well, now he's won the election. He has the ability.
01:05Would he be able to see it before he's sworn in?
01:07Well, when you say see it, I can tell you my recon is the judge in this case just got 17 boxes of material.
01:17So it is a lot.
01:18Be careful what you ask.
01:21But this is after the election.
01:23We spoke to Nathan Hockman again.
01:25This is what he is saying about the Menendez brothers case.
01:27I will expeditiously be able to go through all this information.
01:32Certainly, it will have a high priority, as will other similarly situated cases
01:36have a high priority on my desk.
01:38But we're not going to delay for delay's sake.
01:41If I ask for additional time, it'll be the time I actually need to conduct this review
01:46and hopefully no additional time beyond that, because one way or the other,
01:50the Menendez's, like every defendant, deserve a decision.
01:53But I won't delay for delay's sake.
01:55On my end, I will work as fast as I can.
01:58I'm not sure what that means in terms of time.
02:01If he were to read everything, it's going to take him a long, long time.
02:06Yeah, I mean.
02:06If he's going to rely on people within the DA's office who can brief him,
02:12that's a much more truncated way of, you know, coming to a decision.
02:16I think you're right, but he gave a very responsible statement for the new DA
02:20because he ran against someone, George Gascon, who was soft on crime.
02:23And a lot of people thought this smelled like a political stunt,
02:25a way to get votes potentially in the race that he was behind.
02:28It sounds like Hockman's just going to take it seriously and come to a conclusion himself,
02:32take a fresh look at everything.
02:33And that may take a while.
02:34To your point, it's a lot of boxes of information.
02:36Now, we should say, even if he decides, you know, I oppose them getting out,
02:41that doesn't mean it's over.
02:43It just means the DA is saying we oppose it.
02:46But it is on the table.
02:47There is a hearing on December 11th.
02:50There's another hearing late this month.
02:52And the governor has a petition for clemency on his desk.
02:57So whatever the DA says, it's going to be easier for them if the DA stays on board.
03:01But even if it doesn't.
03:02But it could still happen.
03:03Absolutely.
03:03And it could happen in one of three ways.
03:05Resentencing, changing the conviction, or clemency.
03:08I agree with you, but Governor Newsom may not want to touch this.
03:11This is sort of a radioactive issue at this point.
03:13So I think he wanted the avenue through the court system.
03:16I'm not sure Governor Newsom is going to be open to clemency.
03:19What just occurred to me when you said that is,
03:21I don't think the election helped the Menendez brothers at all.
03:25Because Gavin Newsom, I think, is less likely today
03:28than he was on Monday to grant them clemency.
03:31I think you're 100% right.
03:32What are you insinuating?
03:33I'm insinuating that reading The Room, which is the United States.
03:37That Gavin Newsom is thinking in four years.
03:41Of course.
03:41Right.
03:42This is Domenico in New Jersey.
03:44And I can only imagine the emotions that Lyle and Eric are experiencing today with this news.
03:52It is so interesting because we're seeing their case being held in limbo
03:57following the political landscape in LA.
04:00And I can only imagine that their emotions right now must be on quite a spectrum.
04:07The full spectrum, including frustration that is a result of this 35-year experience.
04:13There is now yet another curveball.
04:15And they're posed then with this question of who is ultimately in control of their freedom.
04:23Well, the courts.
04:24Yep, the courts will make the decision.
04:26But by the way, this has been political from the jump
04:29because in the sense that the public interest in this,
04:33I think, has magnified the authorities making a quicker decision than they might have otherwise.
04:40So, you know, you take the good with the bad.

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