By FRED SHUSTER
Attorneys for Erik and Lyle Menendez are set to ask a judge Monday in Van Nuys to reconsider their convictions — and the life sentences they are serving without parole for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos says he will ask the judge during the hearing to resentence the Menendez brothers on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter based on what he alleges is new evidence. Such a ruling could lead to the brothers’ release from prison.
The Menendez brothers are expected to attend the Van Nuys hearing virtually by way of a link from the prison in San Diego where they are currently incarcerated.
Erik and Lyle Menendez in recent prison photos (Images courtesy of the California Department of Corrections)
The defense filed a petition last year that argues that newly uncovered evidence bolsters defense allegations that the brothers were victims of sexual abuse.
In the court filing, Menendez attorneys 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 too was sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager.
Last month, current Los Angeles Count District Attorney George Gascón requested that a judge resentence the brothers. Given the brothers’ ages at the time of the crime, such a ruling to downgrade their charges would make them potentially immediately eligible for parole as youthful offenders, even though they have served only about 35 years behind bars.
Interest in the case surged following the recent release documentary and dramatic series on Netflix.
The Menendez brothers’ defense team has submitted papers to Gov. Gavin Newsom requesting clemency, and Gascón said he would support that request.
Newsom said he will delay making a decision on the brothers’ bid for clemency until incoming LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman reviews the nearly 35-year-old case.
More on the Menendez brothers
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s attorney says they may be home for holidays as 2 court hearings are set
A timeline of the 35-year history of the Lyle and Erik Menendez case
LA DA seeks resentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez in 1989 killings of their parents
Family of Erik and Lyle Menendez call for their release and say they’re victims who were vilified
Attorneys for Menendez brothers cite new evidence in seeking to overturn convictions
“The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” a statement from the governor’s office said.
“The governor will defer to the DA-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”
Gascón was handily defeated in his re-election bid by Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who campaigned on a tougher stance against crime. Hochman is set to take office in December. A second Menendez hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11.
During their two highly publicized trials, the brothers did not dispute that they killed their parents but claimed self-defense, citing decades of alleged physical and sexual abuse by their father.