Two Los Angeles County prosecutors who recommended the Menendez brothers be freed from prison allege they were punished by Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman and defamed online by one of his political allies, according to a letter reviewed by The Times.
Brock Lunsford, who oversaw the district attorney’s resentencing unit, and Nancy Theberge filed notices of claim Monday that they intend to sue Hochman and Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lewin for retaliation, defamation and discrimination.
The district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lunsford and Theberge’s allegations.
Lewin, who recently joined the trial team prosecuting rap superstar ASAP Rocky, let out a polite laugh when asked about the allegations outside the courtroom Monday morning.
“I’ll let the facts do the talking,” he said.
Lunsford and Theberge said they made a presentation last October arguing Erik and Lyle Menendez should be resentenced in the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, because their imprisonment no longer served the interest of justice. The case gained renewed attention in recent years following the release of a Netflix documentary and the filing of a writ of habeas corpus that pointed to new allegations of sexual abuse against Jose Menendez.
After the brutal 1989 shotgun killings, the brothers claimed their father was sexually abusive, but they were not allowed to present evidence of that allegation in their second trial. The brothers were ultimately convicted of murder with special circumstances and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Lunsford and Theberge’s memo — which led ex-Dist. Atty. George Gascón to file a petition with the court on the brothers’ behalf last year — could lead to their being resentenced on a lesser, routine murder charge, making them eligible for parole.
Some high-ranking L.A. County prosecutors disagreed with the move, including Theberge and Lunsford’s supervisor, according to the notice of claim. Hochman announced his intention to review the decision after handily defeating Gascón last November. Lunsford, who has been with the district attorney’s office since 2000, said he was reassigned to an undesirable position as a “calendar deputy” in the Norwalk courthouse after Hochman won, according to the notice of claim.
Theberge said Hochman shipped her back to the alternate public defender’s office, even though she’d received an exemplary performance review the day before Gascón filed the resentencing petition.
“They were just punished … they felt that the law said the Menendez brothers should be resentenced. These were two individuals who were just doing their job,” said their attorney, Justin Shegerian.
Shortly after taking office, Hochman removed a number of Gascón’s closest allies from leadership posts in the district attorney’s office, according to transfer memorandums issued at the time. While elected officials have discretion over their leadership teams, nearly 20 prosecutors filed similar retaliation lawsuits against Gascón during his term, claiming he demoted them for challenging his progressive policies.
Lewin was among those suing. The veteran prosecutor, who won a murder conviction against notorious New York real estate scion Robert Durst, claimed he was banished from the Major Crimes unit after becoming one of Gascón’s most vocal critics and reassigned to a calendar deputy post similar to the one Lunsford is now in. He settled his suit late last year.
The cases against Gascón involved whistleblower claims, with the plaintiffs contending they were punished for pointing out legal flaws in his restorative justice policies. Only one of Gascón’s policies was ever deemed illegal by a judge. The only one of the suits filed against Gascon that went to trial ended with a $1.5 million verdict against the county. Several others are expected to be settled in the next few months.
Shegerian said his clients’ allegations also qualify as whistleblower claims because the state’s resentencing law required them to seek a lesser punishment for the brothers, and Hochman retaliated against them for that decision.
A hearing on the Menendez brothers’ resentencing petition is scheduled for March 20.
Nearly two dozen of Erik and Lyle’s relatives met with Hochman earlier this month and called for the brothers to be released. Hochman has not made his position on their release public, but legal experts have said he cannot revoke Gascón’s petition, likely leaving the brothers’ fate in the hands of a judge.
Lunsford and Theberge also accused Lewin of defaming them in social media posts where he claimed Theberge “had no interest in justice, wanted to let criminals out of jail and was dishonest in her filings with the Court,” according to the letter. Lunsford contended that by referring to him as a “quisling,” Lewin had likened him to a “Nazi collaborator,” according to the letter.
The word “quisling” has come to mean one who collaborates with an occupying force. It derived from the last name of a military officer who was complicit in a Nazi takeover of the Norwegian government during World War II.
Lewin, a political ally of Hochman known for his at times combative personality both in the courtroom and online, has been an outspoken critic of the decision to resentence the brothers.
