A pair of court hearings will be held in November and December to consider various proposals that could potentially lead to the release of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving sentences of life in prison without parole for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion.
On Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic scheduled a Dec. 11 hearing to consider a petition filed by the District Attorney’s Office asking that the brothers be re-sentenced to 50 years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole. Given the brothers’ ages at the time of the crime, such a move would make them potentially eligible for parole right away as youthful offenders, even though they have only served about 35 years behind bars.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos said a Nov. 25 hearing has also been set on a defense petition for reconsideration in the case, and he said he will ask during that hearing that the brothers be re-sentenced on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter and be immediately released from prison.
Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez sit with defense attorney Leslie Abramson, right, in Beverly Hills Municipal Court during a hearing, Nov. 26, 1990. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)
“The district attorney is recommending a re-sentencing at 50 to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole,” Geragos told KNX News Wednesday afternoon. “We’re going to ask the judge exercise his ability to not only recall the (current) sentence but sentence (them) to a lesser included (offense), which is a voluntary manslaughter and give them time-served.”
He told the station if things work in the defense team’s favor, the brothers could potentially be home in time for the holiday season.
“That’s one of the reasons we set a November date and a backup December date, so we’re hopeful,” he said.
Meanwhile, the defense team has also submitted papers to Gov. Gavin Newsom requesting clemency for the Menendez brothers. On Wednesday, District Attorney George Gascón said he would support that request.
“I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving sentences of life without possibility of parole,” Gascón said in a statement. “They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates.”
Gascón announced last week that his office would be asking that the brothers be re-sentenced. Prosecutors then filed a 56-page motion, saying the brothers have “demonstrated exceptional post-conviction conduct, a critical factor in assessing their suitability for release” and have “demonstrated they no long present a public safety risk … such that their current sentence is no longer in furtherance of justice.”
Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, who have alleged that they were sexually abused by their father, are serving life prison sentences without the possibility of parole for killing their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty,” in their Beverly Hills mansion on Aug. 20, 1989.
This is a 1988 copy photo of Jose E. Menendez. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)
It will be up to a judge to decide whether to actually re-sentence the pair.
If a judge agrees to the re-sentencing proposed by the District Attorney’s Office, it would then be in the hands of a state parole board to determine if the brothers are suitable for parole and release from prison. If the board grants parole, the governor could still reject it.
The issue would be rendered moot if a judge agrees to Geragos’ call for the brothers to be re-sentenced to time already served on a lesser voluntary manslaughter charge.
From left, attorney Leslie Abramson, Erik Menendez, attorney Jill Lansing and Lyle Menendez, in the courtroom on Tuesday, March 22, 1994. (Los Angeles Daily News file photo)
The filing from the District Attorney’s Office notes that at the time of the crime, Erik was an 18-year-old who was preparing to attend UCLA in the fall, and Lyle Menendez was a 21-year-old Princeton University student.
The prosecutors wrote that “the childhood abuse and trauma incurred by both defendants in this case is sufficient to invoke court consideration” under a new law that allows re-sentencing in certain cases.
“Both men have been incredible contributions to the prison system as a whole and to their fellow inmates on a very personal level. Erik and Lyle Menendez have done and continue to do their good works and contributions, done without any expectation or hope of ever being released,” according to the filing. “They have used their time of incarceration well and now show that they are not a risk to public safety. Erik and Lyle Menendez both deserve a lesser sentence.”
The case of Erik and Lyle Menendez
A timeline of the 35-year history of the Lyle and Erik Menendez case
How soon would a release of the Menendez brothers happen?
Timing of DA Gascón’s decision on Menendez case raises questions for some
Family of Erik and Lyle Menendez call for their release and say they’re victims who were vilified
DA’s office is reviewing the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who killed their parents in 1989
In court papers filed last year, attorneys for the brothers pointed to two new pieces of evidence they contend corroborate the brothers’ allegations of long-term sexual abuse at the hands of their father — a letter written by Erik Menendez to one of his cousins in early 1989, eight months before the August 1989 killings, and recent allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, that he was sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager.
The Menendez case has been the subject of renewed public interest since the release of a recent Netflix documentary.
The brothers never denied carrying out the killings, but contended they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by their father and feared for their lives.
During their trials, however, prosecutors said the killings were financially motivated, pointing to lavish spending sprees by the brothers after the killings and arguing they were guilty of first-degree murder.
The brothers’ first trial ended with jurors unable to reach verdicts, deadlocking between first-degree murder and lesser charges including manslaughter. The second trial, which began in October 1995 and lacked much of the testimony centered on allegations of sexual abuse by Jose Menendez, ended with both brothers being convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy.
The brothers have repeatedly appealed their convictions to no avail.
The court papers filed by defense attorneys last year included a copy of the handwritten letter allegedly sent by Erik Menendez to his cousin, Andy Cano. Attorneys contend the letter was only recently discovered by Cano’s mother. Cano, who died of a drug overdose in 2003, testified in the brothers’ first trial that Erik Menendez had told him about the molestation by his father when Erik was 13 years old, according to the court documents.
In the letter, Erik Menendez writes in part, “I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy, but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it. … I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind.”
Defense attorneys have also cited allegations that surfaced last year in a Peacock documentary series, in which Rosselló — a former member of the boy band Menudo — alleged that Jose Menendez drugged and sexually assaulted him when he was about 14 years old during a visit to the Menendez home in New Jersey in 1983 or 1984.
Jose Menendez was an executive at RCA Records, which signed Menudo to a recording contract.
“I know what he did to me in his house,” Rosselló said in the series. In another segment, he points to a picture of Jose Menendez and says, “That’s the man here that raped me. That’s the pedophile.”
A declaration from Rosselló — who also alleges Menendez sexually assaulted him on two other occasions in New York — was attached to the court papers filed on behalf of the Menendez brothers last year.
The Menendez brothers’ attorneys argued that the new evidence warranted the case being re-opened.