California AG takes stance on Menendez brothers prosecutor staying on case amid resentencing battle
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is pushing back against Erik and Lyle Menendez’s defense team’s request to remove the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office from their resentencing case.
The brothers’ attorneys have argued that the DA’s office has shown bias against them and violated Marsy’s Law against their family.
In a 22-page opposition filed this week, the AG’s office noted that the Menendez defense attorneys have failed to present evidence that meets the “stringent standards” for an office-wide recusal of the DA, stating that each claim fell short of any merit.
“First, the transfer of two members of his Office who previously supported resentencing is not sufficient to establish a disabling, office-wide conflict of interest. Second, even if Ms. Cady’s prior representation of Kitty Menendez’s brother could present a potential conflict, the District Attorney’s Office has walled her off from this matter,” the filing read.
“As such, defendants have failed to identify a disqualifying conflict that demonstrates a reasonable possibility that the assigned prosecutors may not exercise discretionary functions in an evenhanded manner, nor have they established that any alleged conflict is so grave as to render it more likely than not they will not receive unfair treatment if the case continues to be handled by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office,” – California Attorney General’s Office
Last week, the DA’s office filed it’s own opposition, calling the move a “drastic and desperate step.”