After Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor was fired earlier this month and suggested a fresh sentencing that would allow the brothers’ release, Erik and Lyle Menendez’s attempts to shorten their life sentences without the possibility of parole have been put on hold.
After a court decided on Monday that a resentencing hearing scheduled for December 11 should be postponed in part to allow the county’s new district attorney to review the case, that uncertainty will persist for the time being.
Though it’s uncertain if they would speak, the brothers were supposed to attend the hearing virtually.
The siblings were sentenced to 35 years in prison for the August 20, 1989, shotgun killings of their parents, Jos and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills residence.
George Gasc, the departing Los Angeles County District Attorney, stated last month that he was in favor of lowering their sentences to 50 years to life, which would immediately qualify them for parole.
It is up to the court to decide whether to accept or reject Gasc’s ruling.
Following a review of the brothers’ case by a specialized section inside Gasc’s office that works to apply reform-minded resentencing statutes, the recommendation was made.
The brothers have been exemplary inmates, despite the fact that Gascn has admitted that their crimes were ruthless and planned. He claimed that they are no longer a threat to public safety since they have paid their obligation to society.
Many members of the Mendendez family, who had argued for the men’s release and cited the horrifying abuse the siblings claimed they endured at the hands of their father, praised Gasc’s decision.
In line with the defense presented by the brothers’ legal team during their two murder trials in the 1990s, the brothers’ supporters have characterized the killings as a desperate act of self-defense.
The accusations of abuse, according to the prosecution, were a fabricated attempt to conceal what the authorities said was the brothers’ real goal: to gain access to their family’s multimillion-dollar estate.
Because the jurors were unable to reach a majority decision, the first trial resulted in a hung jury. At their second trial, the brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder.
Gasc has admitted that his suggestion is still divisive inside his own office, with some prosecutors accepting the abuse claims and others contending the brothers ought to spend the rest of their life in prison.
Nathan Hochman, the incoming district attorney who will start work on December 2, has stated that he must examine the case’s facts, law, and supporting documentation before rendering a judgment. There was a significant probability, according to several sources, that he would want to postpone the hearing scheduled for December 11.
In addition, the brothers have petitioned California Governor Gavin Newsom for pardon and to overturn their convictions in an effort to gain their freedom.
Geragos has interpreted the petition, which was submitted in May 2023, as proof that Jos Menendez was assaulting Erik Menendez in the months prior to the siblings’ murder of their parents.
Both initiatives are still in progress.
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