Erik and Lyle Menendez – brothers who have spent 34 years behind bars for killing their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills mansion, a made-for-TV case that drew worldwide attention – got hopeful news late last month when Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said he would ask a judge to reconsider their life sentences to allow them to apply for parole.
Less than two weeks later, Gascón was defeated in his bid for reelection. The incoming district attorney, Nathan Hochman, says that if the case isn’t resolved by the time he takes office on Dec. 2, he will review it and decide whether to recommend to a judge that the brothers be resentenced, as Gascón has asked for.
The brothers are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. The D.A.’s office, under Gascón, recently petitioned to have their sentences changed to life with the possibility of parole.
Hochman said he would want to review the confidential files in the case and trial transcripts – thousands of pages – and speak with prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, defense attorneys and victim family members before issuing his own recommendation.
If necessary, Hochman said he might ask the judge to delay the resentencing hearing that’s scheduled for Dec. 11 – nine days after he takes office.
“I owe it to the Menendez brothers, the victim family members and to the public to ensure that whatever decision I arrive at is done after a thorough review,” Hochman said.
Mark Geragos, the attorney for Erik and Lyle Menendez, said on Friday, Nov. 15, that his clients are aware of the upcoming changes in the D.A.’s office and are “cautiously optimistic” about their fates.
“Everybody who has reviewed the files have come to the same conclusion,” Geragos said in an interview. “I would imagine as a reasonable man, (Hochman) will come to the same conclusion that all reasonable people have – that they should be out.”
The Menendez brothers made national headlines for murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 when they were 21 and 18 years old. Their attorneys claimed they were victims of emotional and sexual abuse by their father, an RCA Records executive, and had acted in self-defense.
The first trials for both men ended with the juries deadlocked. During the second trial, jurors convicted the brothers of first-degree murder.
The brothers, now 56 and 53, are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole in a correctional facility in San Diego County.
In October, District Attorney Gascón announced he would ask a judge to reduce the brothers’ sentences down to life with the possibility of parole. Because the murders were committed when the brothers were younger than 26 years old, they would be eligible to be released from prison immediately.
The state parole board would still need to decide whether to approve their release. If that is granted, Gov. Gavin Newsom could agree with or reject the board’s decision.
Gascón said he decided to reexamine the case because of new evidence – a letter that Erik Menendez reportedly wrote to a cousin years ago, which his attorneys say corroborates allegations that their father was sexually abusive, along with claims by a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo who recently came forward and said he was raped by Jose Menendez in the 1980s when he was a teen.
Besides a possible resentencing, there are other legal remedies the defense team is pursuing.
On Nov. 25, a judge will hear a motion to vacate the convictions and for a new trial since the Menendez brothers weren’t allowed to include evidence during their second trial that their attorneys say showed that Jose Menendez sexually abused his sons.
In addition, the defense team has asked the governor to grant clemency to the brothers.
Geragos said one of the brothers’ aunts, Joan VanderMolen, will turn 93 later this month and “she would love to have them out for her birthday.”
Asked if Newsom is considering clemency, the governor’s office did not indicate either way. His office said that pending clemency requests are confidential and that they could not discuss the case. There is no requirement for Newsom to act by a certain date — should he decide to take action.
Public interest in the case has been renewed because of documentaries about the brothers that were released this year.
More than a dozen family members support the brothers’ release from prison. Several of them have said that in today’s society — which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse — Erik and Lyle Menendez wouldn’t have been convicted of first-degree murder. They say the brothers aren’t a threat to society.
But at least one relative – Milton Andersen, the brother of Kitty Menendez – disagrees with a lighter sentence that could set the brothers free. He has said through his attorney that he doesn’t believe his nephews were molested. He believes their actions were motivated by “pure greed, because they had just learned that they were going to be taken out of the will,” Andersen’s attorney said recently.