LOS ANGELES — Two Los Angeles County prosecutors claimed in new legal filings that they were demoted and faced retaliation for supporting the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez.
Prosecutors Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford filed government claims Monday alleging they were transferred out of the district attorney's office's resentencing unit because of their work supporting the brothers’ resentencing and for their perceived political association with George Gascón, the former Los Angeles County district attorney.
Theberge’s filing further claimed she was subjected to discriminatory treatment because of her age and gender. Her filing said office leaders treated her differently from younger, male colleagues, “undermining her authority and professional standing.”
Both Theberge and Lunsford had supported the resentencing, and from October they began to attend meetings about the motion for resentencing.
The Menendez brothers were convicted of their parents’ murders in 1989, and in 1996 they were sentenced to life in prison without parole. They remain in a California prison.
The prosecutors co-wrote a memorandum on the legal and procedural basis for the brothers’ resentencing.
“Theberge’s position, based solely on her interpretation of the law, was met with resistance from the new leadership within the District Attorney’s Office,” her filing said.
Her filing claims that after she wrote internal and external reports saying there would be a violation of law if there was opposition to the brothers’ resentencing, the district attorney’s office transferred her out of her position and reassigned her to the Alternative Public Defender’s Office starting Dec. 19. In her new role, she was placed at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy — which the filing described as “a clear demotion.”
After Nathan Hochman was elected DA in November, Lunsford was “stripped of all supervisory responsibilities,” his filing said. He was reassigned as of Dec. 14 as a calendar attorney in Department T of the Norwalk Courthouse, “a position he had held years earlier with no opportunities for promotion or advancement,” the filing said.
Their filings alleged they faced retaliation, in part, due to Hochman's belief that they supported his political opponent and predecessor, Gascón. Both had openly supported Gascón as district attorney and his re-election.
The filings are government claims that are precursors to lawsuits. They each seek economic damages of over $250,000 and non-economic damages over $5 million.
“Nancy and Brock are committed public servants and accomplished attorneys who followed the law — the law they believed required them to advocate for the resentencing of the Menendez brothers,” their attorney, Justin Shegerian, told NBC Los Angeles.
The district attorney’s office said it “does not have comment to provide on this matter.”
The case of the Menendez brothers re-enraptured the public last year with the release of two Hollywood projects: the Netflix crime series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and a Netflix documentary titled “The Menendez Brothers.”
Hochman said last month he has not decided whether the prison sentences for the brothers should be reduced. He said he was still reviewing extensive court and prison records.
Lawyers for the brothers have sought to have their sentences reduced to 50 years to life, a request that would make them eligible for parole immediately, which Gascón had endorsed.
A judge will ultimately determine whether their sentences should be reduced.
