A prosecutor with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office is wary of a new piece of evidence that could help free Erik and Lyle Menendez.

Juan Mejia, who was a young assistant prosecutor during the brother’s second murder trial, questions the legitimacy of a new letter introduced into evidence in May 2023.

In the undated note, first revealed by DailyMail.com, Erik wrote to his now-deceased cousin Andy Cano that he “tried to avoid Dad” and that “it still goes on, Andy, but it “is worse for me now”, referring to the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father.

Mejia, who opposes the brothers’ release, said he questions the evidence because the Menendez brothers’ lawyers have not yet turned over the original copy and the letter is undated.

“We can’t say whether this was written before the murders or after the conviction,” he said. NBC News. “Are they trying to pull another one quickly on the field?

It was announced last month that prosecutor George Gascón – who lost re-election on Tuesday – had recommended re-sentencing of the brothers. A hearing on the brother’s resentencing is scheduled for December 10

Juan Mejia, who was a young assistant prosecutor during the brother’s second murder trial, questions the legitimacy of a new letter introduced into evidence in May 2023. “We cannot say whether it was written before the murders or after the sentencing,” he said

Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alluded to severe and long-term abuse at the hands of his father Jose.

Cano, who died in 2003, told a jury that Erik told him about his father’s abuse when he was 13. His mother found the letter nine years ago and it was included in a 2023 petition seeking to determine whether the brothers had been illegally imprisoned.

While Mejia agrees that the brothers more than meet the sentencing standards, he doesn’t think there is any “justification for shooting your mother eight times with a shotgun and reloaded.”

The brothers were sentenced to life with parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, whom they shot multiple times in their home.

The brothers’ case was brought back into the spotlight 35 years after the murders thanks to the popular Netflix documentary series Monsters.

Many of their new fans believe the boys should have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. If they had been, they would have already served their sentences and been released.

Prosecutor George Gascón, who lost his reelection bid on Tuesday, announced last month that he had recommended that the brothers be re-sentenced and said he wanted to see the speedy release of both men.

While Mejia agrees the brothers more than meet sentencing standards, he doesn’t think there’s “justification for shooting your mother eight times with a shotgun and reloaded.”

Gascón says the brothers do not pose a risk to public safety because they have been “exceptional prisoners throughout their incarceration” and have paid their dues.

But on Election Day, Los Angeles County voters dramatically ousted Gascon and replaced him with Republican-turned-independent Nate Hochman, jeopardizing the resentencing process.

Hochman, 60, takes office on December 2 and has already announced his intention to review Gascón’s decision regarding the brothers.

In a statement to CNN after his victory, he said: “Before I can make a decision regarding the Menendez brothers’ case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, evidence and the law.”

The former federal prosecutor added: “I will have to review each brother’s confidential files, the transcripts of both trials, and speak to prosecutors, law enforcement, defense attorneys and family members of the victims .

On December 11, a hearing on the brother’s resentencing is scheduled. But Hochman told CNN that if he needs more time to review the request, he “will ask the court for that time.”

Former Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Pamela Bozanich disagrees with Gascón’s call for a resentencing, nor does she believe the boys were mistreated.

“They killed their parents. They massacred their mother,” she told NBC. “Why should they live among us?

Mejia is also suspicious of the brothers’ fabrication story, including that Lyle allegedly tried to make people lie for the defense’s trial, and that they spent a lot of money after their deaths.

But Gascón says the brothers do not pose a risk to public safety because they have been “exceptional prisoners throughout their incarceration” and have paid their dues.