Menendez Family Rips L.A. County D.A., Says He's Silencing Abuse Survivors

The family of Erik and Lyle Menendez is ripping Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman … saying he’s opening old wounds and silencing survivors of sexual abuse with his latest comments on their case.

Anamaria Baralt, Erik and Lyle’s cousin and niece of Jose Menendez, tells TMZ … Hochman’s dismissal of two new pieces of evidence related to sexual abuse is “abhorrent.”

The D.A. held a news conference Friday where he said the Menendez brothers didn’t deserve a new trial, even though they claim they have new evidence showing they were being molested by Jose before they killed their parents.

Hochman said the sexual abuse claims are irrelevant to the murder case … a position that does not sit well with Erik and Lyle’s family.

Anamaria tells TMZ … “To suggest that the years of abuse couldn’t have led to the tragedy in 1989 is not only outrageous, but also dangerous. Abuse does not exist in a vacuum. It leaves lasting scars, rewires the brain, and traps victims in cycles of fear and trauma. To say it played no role in Erik and Lyle’s action is to ignore decades of psychological research and basic human understanding.”

She adds … “He is not just dismissing Erik and Lyle’s experiences, he is silencing survivors everywhere who know what it’s like to be disbelieved, ignored, and retraumatized by a system designed to protect them.”

Erik and Lyle claim they have new evidence showing they were abused — a letter Erik sent to his cousin purportedly written in 1988 where Erik discusses sexual abuse … plus a letter from a Menudo member claiming Jose molested him in the 1980s.

Hochman said the abuse claims do not change what happened when Erik and Lyle were convicted of murdering their parents … but their cousin says Hochman is “trying to bury the truth about their abuse.”