Prosecutors Who Wrote Motion Recommending Resentencing for Menendez Brothers Claim Retaliation, Discrimination

The two Los Angeles County prosecutors who wrote a memorandum recommending resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez claim they were retaliated against by newly-elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

On Monday, Feb. 3, Los Angeles County District Attorneys Nancy Theberge, who oversaw the district attorney’s resentencing unit, and Brock Lunsford, the Assistant Head Deputy of the Post-Conviction and Litigation unit, filed the notices of claim indicating their intent to sue Hochman, the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and Deputy District Attorney John Lewin.

The claim alleges that Theberge and Lunsford were retaliated against because they supported Lyle and Erik’s bid for release. In October, the two prosecutors asked a judge to reduce the sentences of the brothers to 50 years to life — making them immediately eligible for parole as “youthful offenders." Lyle and Erik were 21 and 18, respectively, at the time of the murders of their parents in 1989.

“This case really comes down to the ongoing politicization of the Erik and Lyle Menendez case,” Theberge and Lunsford's attorney, Justin Shegerian, tells PEOPLE. “They've been incarcerated for approximately the past 35 years, and recently the public reassessed the justice of their sentences. And here our clients dedicated their careers to serving the public and the justice system, and they were just trying to follow the law, and they interpreted the law to say that the Menendez brothers should be re-sentenced based on a variety of factors that the law provides. Our clients interpreting this law felt that not advocating for the re-sentencing of the Menendez brothers would be a violation of the law. These are just two people who are trying to do their job and the city demoted them, derailed their careers.”

The district attorney’s office didn’t respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Lyle and Erik have spent more than 30 years in prison for the 1989 killing of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez. Their fate took an unexpected twist last year when a new generation of supporters joined the call for their release from prison, owing to a cultural shift in understanding of the devastating toll that sexual abuse survivors face, along with the impact of Netflix’s hit drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and a documentary on the streaming service, The Menendez Brothers.

Theberge, 56, also claimed in the letter that she was discriminated against because of her age and gender and targeted because of her “perceived political association” with then-L.A. District Attorney George Gascón.

Lunsford, a 25-year veteran at the district attorney’s office, claimed he was retaliated against for sticking up for Theberge, “stripped of all supervisory responsibilities” and reassigned as a “calendar deputy” in the district attorney’s office in Norwalk.

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“This was a position that he had many years ago when he was at a lower level within the DA's office,” says Shegerian. “So, he was demoted quite a bit.”

Hochman reassigned Theberge to the alternate public defender’s office “at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy," according to Shegerian.

“They were demoted only a couple weeks after the new administration came into office,” says Shegerian. “So their demotion thereafter made them feel like they were being retaliated against for their advocating for the resentencing of the Menendez brothers. They're still employed, but of course their careers have been totally derailed."

Lunsford and Theberge also allege that Lewin, an ally of Hochman, attacked their credibility and publicly defamed them. Lewin could not be reached for comment.

"DA Hochman campaigned on a promise to remove politics from prosecutorial decisions and to carefully weigh the nuances and facts of each case under his review," the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition, a family-led initiative advocating for the release of Erik and Lyle, wrote in a statement about the decision to remove Lunsford and Theberge. "We continue to hold on to hope that he will honor this commitment as he considers his recommendation for Erik and Lyle’s resentencing."

Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18 when they fatally shot their parents using 12-gauge shotguns in the den of their Beverly Hills, Calif., home on Aug. 20, 1989.

The killings, according to the brothers, came after years of sexual abuse by Jose, which they claimed was ignored by their mom, a former pageant queen.

However, prosecutors at the time said the two brothers’ motive was greed and cited their lavish spending spree after the slayings.

Related: Who Were the Menendez Brothers’ Parents? Inside the Lives of José and Kitty Menendez Before Their 1989 Murders

In 1996, three years after their first trial ended in a deadlock, the siblings were convicted of the first-degree murders and subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In May 2023, attorneys for the brothers filed a petition with the Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing new evidence in the case.

In the Habeas Corpus petition, attorneys pointed to sexual abuse allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo against Jose, who he claimed raped him in the 1980s.

The attorneys also cite a newly discovered letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse months before the murders.

A resentencing hearing for the Menendez brothers begins on March 20.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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