Prosecutors Allege Demotions For Supporting Menendez Resentencing

Two veteran Los Angeles County prosecutors filed lawsuits on Monday, accusing District Attorney Nathan Hochman and the county of wrongfully demoting them for supporting the resentencing of the Menendez brothers while former District Attorney George Gascón still led the office, Courthouse News reports. The prosecutors, Deputy District Attorneys Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford, say they were demoted to junior positions after they supported resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted in1996 of killing their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. While Gascón supported the resentencing motion, Hochman has opposed it, citing what he calls the brothers' continued dishonesty and refusal to take responsibility. The resentencing that Gascon supported would have removed the life without parole element of the brothers’ sentence, changing it to 50 years to life in prison. Gascón's decision was influenced by new evidence supporting the brothers' claims of enduring physical and sexual abuse by their father, José Menendez, including a 1988 letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin detailing abuse. Theberge claims she believed state law required the resentencing motion and that failing to file it would have been unlawful. After after Hochman was elected in November, he quickly removed both Theberge and Lunsford from the case and demoted them.

“Theberge and Lunsford were not only demoted but also subjected to a campaign of retaliation, harassment, and reputational harm. Supervisors in the new administration accused Theberge of dishonesty and breaching her duty of candor to the court, a baseless and slanderous attack on her integrity,” Theberge said. Theberge and Lunsford filed separate complaints in Los Angeles Superior Court. They allege whistleblower retaliation, discrimination, harassment, defamation, emotional distress and violations of California labor laws. Theberge, who led a unit in the district attorney’s office, was reassigned to the Alternate Public Defender’s Office — a move she characterizes as retaliatory. Lunsford, a 25-year veteran, was stripped of his supervisory role and reassigned to a lower-level position in a remote court. After Lunsford publicly defended Theberge and the legality of the resentencing motion, the two attorneys say a supervisor mocked them both, referring to them as "quislings" — a slur comparing them to Nazi collaborators. Theberge claims she faced harsher treatment than Lunsford, who is male and younger and was allowed to remain within the district attorney’s office. Both prosecutors are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. “Nancy and Brock followed the law and paid for it with their careers,” said their attorney, Justin Shegerian. “Their resentencing motion was grounded in fact, supported by the law, and filed with integrity.” Hochman is set to ask a judge on Friday to withdraw the resentencing request. He said on Monday that the Menendez brothers should go through California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office if they seek resentencing because Newsom does not have the same legal restraints that Hochman or a court does.