UPDATE
4:38 PM PT — Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman tells TMZ … “In denying parole for Sirhan Sirhan … Governor Newsom took into account his young age at the time of the crime (24), his lack of any prior arrests or convictions, his difficult upbringing in the war-torn Middle East, his success in getting college degrees and engaging in rehabilitation in prison, his risk score which was the lowest on the scale, his age (77 years old), his diminished health, and the amount of time in prison (54 years).
He continues … “Notwithstanding those factors, Governor Newsom stated that his lack of full insight into actions and taking complete responsibility for them overweighed the other facts to show that he remained an unreasonable risk of danger to society. Sirhan Sirhan never made up a self-defense defense, never suborned or attempted to suborn perjury, and never lied repeatedly at trial under oath.”
He concludes … “In contrast, while the Menendez brothers have many of the same positive characteristics of Sirhan Sirhan in favor of parole or resentencing, they have never accepted responsibility for lying about their self-defense defense and suborning and attempting to suborn perjury concerning their fabrications of stories of their father violently raping Lyle’s girlfriend, their mother trying to poison the family, and their friend supposedly giving them a handgun the day before the murders. As a result, if Sirhan remains an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety, then so too do the Menendez brothers — who have never come fully clean of their lies in over 30 years — constitute an unreasonable risk of danger to the community.”
Sirhan Sirhan‘s lawyer is calling out Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman … saying the new D.A. is getting some bad information about RFK‘s alleged assassin.
Hochman’s been trying to use the Sirhan case to keep the Menendez Brothers behind bars in their bid for freedom … but Sirhan’s attorney tells us Hochman is confused about some basic facts.
Angela Berry, who represents Sirhan, tells TMZ … Hochman is pushing a common misperception about Sirhan when he says Sirhan admitted to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and then later claimed his innocence, and she says Hochman is making an unfair comparison to Erik and Lyle.
Sirhan’s attorney says her client’s parole transcript reflects that he doesn’t remember the details of the RFK shooting … despite what she claims Hochman’s been saying in news conferences about the Menendez case.
TMZ.com
What’s more, Berry says it’s frustrating to hear Hochman perpetuate misconceptions about Sirhan’s alleged confession … she says he’s maintained innocence for 5 decades and now Hochman is helping a false narrative become reality.
She says Sirhan has never flat-out admitted he shot RFK … she says he remembers being at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles the night RFK was shot in 1968 and remembers holding the gun and being restrained by people after he emerged from his blackout … but that’s it.
Sirhan’s attorney says in 2018 a doctor claimed Sirhan suffered from PTSD from when he was a child in war-torn Palestine and, as a result, his short-term memory was impacted.
Hochman’s arguing Sirhan being denied parole by Governor Gavin Newsom a couple years ago means the Menendez brothers should get the same treatment … but legal teams for Erik, Lyle and Sirhan all say it’s an apples-to-oranges comparison.
We’ve reached out to Hochman’s office … so far, no word back.
