Prosecutors Who Called For Resentencing Menendez Brothers To Sue New DA For ‘Retaliation’

Two Los Angeles prosecutors who supported the resentencing and release of convicted murderers Erik and Lyle Menendez say they plan to sue the new district attorney and the deputy district attorney for retaliation.

Brock Lunsford previously oversaw resentencing cases under former District Attorney George Gascón, who in November lost his re-election bid to Nathan Hochman. Lunsford, together with Nancy Theberge, last year recommended resentencing the Menendez brothers based on new evidence in their case.

Hochman had said he’d look into the case, but since taking over the District Attorney’s office, Lunsford and Theberge allege they were demoted in retaliation for their recommendation.

In a letter reviewed by the Los Angeles Times and KTLA, Justin Shegerian, the attorney representing Lunsford and Theberge, alleged they were “punished.”

“They felt that the law said the Menendez brothers should be resentenced. These were two individuals who were just doing their job,” Shegerian wrote.

Lunsford, a 25-year veteran of the DA’s office, was reassigned to “calendar deputy,” while Theberge was sent to the alternate public defender’s office. The pair allege the changes were more than just the usual reshuffle of a new administration.

The letter stated that Lunsford and Theberge intend to sue both Hochman and Deputy District Attorney John Lewin for “harassment, discrimination, and retaliation following their recommended resentencing of convicted murderers Eric and Lyle Menendez.”

According to Lunsford and Theberge, Lewin allegedly defamed the pair on social media, saying Theberge “had no interest in justice, wanted to let criminals out of jail and was dishonest in her filings with the Court,” and referring to Lunsford as a “quisling,” a term derived from the name of infamous Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling, and used generally to mean traitor or enemy collaborator.

Lewin himself previously sued Gascón along with more than a dozen other prosecutors who were reassigned after the former DA took office. Lewin was moved from Major Crimes to calendar deputy, the same position to which Lunsford was recently assigned. Last year, while serving as Deputy District Attorney, Lewin came under fire after it was revealed he had vacationed at the Hamptons mansion owned by Robert Durst’s widow, Debrah Lee Charatan, just months after prosecuting the real estate heir for murder.

According to their letter, Lunsford and Theberge intend to seek more than $250,000 in economic damages, and more than $5 million in “non-economic damages.”