What to Know
- A resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, part of a process that could eventually lead to the brothers’ release from prison, will proceed Thursday before a judge in Van Nuys.
- Attorneys for the brothers, ages 57 and 54, will argue they have served enough of a life prison sentence for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents at the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.
- LA County prosecutors have opposed resentencing, claiming the brothers killed Jose and Kitty Menendez for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
- The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. California time and possibly continue into Friday.
A hearing on resentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez will move forward Thursday when their attorneys argue before a judge in Los Angeles that the brothers have served enough time in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.
The long-awaited and re-scheduled hearing at a courthouse in Van Nuys comes after a contentious court proceeding last week at which Los Angeles County prosecutors aggressively argued against resentencing for the brothers, who are serving life sentences without parole after two murder trials three decades ago. The judge at Friday’s hearing cleared the way for this week’s hearing, despite assertions from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office that the brothers killed Jose and Kitty Menendez for a multimillion-dollar inheritance and have not admitted to lies during their trials nor taken complete responsibility for the crime.
Defense attorneys claim the brothers acted in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father.
Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, Menendez were ages 18 and 21, respectively, when they were sentenced in a crime that commanded the public’s attention, which was renewed with the release of the Netflix drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and the documentary “The Menendez Brothers,” released in the fall of 2024.
Sixteen tickets will be given out lottery-style for a seat in the courtroom, where proceedings about the brothers’ suitability for resentencing are expected to begin around mid-morning. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. California time before Judge Michael Jesic.
The road to Thursday’s hearing, which could continue into Friday, began in October when then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón asked a judge to change the brothers’ sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life. That would make them immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.
In an interview marking his first 100 days in office, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he would reconsider resentencing for the Menendez brother if they fully accept responsibility for their parents’ murders. Robert Kovacik reports for the NBC4 News at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 17, 2025.
But Gascón was defeated by Nathan Hochman in the November election. After asking for time to review the case, Hochman made it clear his office would not support resentencing and withdrew his predecessor’s request. At last week’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said a key issue with Gascón’s resentencing petition was that it did not fully address rehabilitation and missed key elements of the original crime committed.
He argued they were “hunkered down in their bunker of deceit, lies, and deception.” He said the killings were motivated by greed when they learned they would be taken out of the will, citing psychiatrist’s notes that he said showed “this was not self-defense.”
During the resentencing hearing, the district attorney’s office will likely revisit many of the arguments made at Friday’s hearing. Arguments both for and against resentencing also are laid out in hundreds of pages of filings that have been reviewed by Jesic.
“The Menendez’s have not yet been fully rehabilitated,” Hochman said this week in an interview with NBCLA. “The Menendez brothers have been given numerous chances to come clean over the last 30 years and admit the full range of their criminal, and they’ve chosen not to.”
Attorney Mark Geragos described the prosecution’s presentation last week, which included bloody crimes scene photos that are the subject of a complaint by the family, as a “dog and pony show.” He described the proceeding as “nothing more than political cover” as a result of Hochman defeating Gascón in the district attorney’s race.
Geragos argued the judge had full authority to proceed with resentencing under a California law passed in 2023 that allows a court to recall a sentence and initiate resentencing at any point in time. Under the law, courts can reduce penalties based on a variety of factors, including a prisoner’s age and their conduct while incarcerated.
A Los Angeles judge ruled that Lyle and Erik Menendez’s effort to be resentenced, and eventually be released from prison on parole, can proceed.
It was not immediately clear when a decision might be announced.
The hearing is an opportunity for the brothers to demonstrate to a judge that they have lived a life in prison that’s worthy of resentencing as outlined under California law. If the judge agrees, their sentence could be reduced to a penalty less than life without the possibility of parole before their case is considered by a parole board.
“We look forward to a full, fair presentation of who Eric and Lyle are today, not just a version frozen in time in a time of pain and fear, but the whole truth — the growth, the humanity and the men they’ve become,” said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers, after Friday’s hearing.
If nothing changes after this week’s proceedings, the brothers still have two paths to freedom.
They submitted a clemency plea to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who ordered the state parole board to assess whether the brothers could pose a public risk if released. The risk-assessment process is standard practice in parole cases and used to determine whether an inmate poses a threat to public safety if they were released.
The brothers also submitted a petition for habeas corpus in May 2023 asking the court to grant them a new trial in light of new evidence presented. Hochman’s office also filed a motion opposing the petition.
In the court petition, attorneys for the brothers pointed to two new pieces of evidence they contend corroborate the brothers’ allegations of long-term sexual abuse by their father. The evidence included a letter allegedly
written by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in early 1989 or late 1988 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.
[publish_date
