Menendez brothers case: Retrial for Eric and Lyle Menendez in 1989 double murder could take months

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón formally filed papers Friday recommending resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez. However, there is still a long way to go before the brothers are freed.

The judge will have to agree with Gascón’s recommendation, and then the parole board will have to approve it.

But the Board of Parole Hearings usually schedules hearings no sooner than six months later.

Gov. Gavin Newsom also would have the power to override the board’s decision.

Erik Menendez, now 53, and Lyle Menendez, now 56, are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego for the 1989 murders of their parents Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” » Menendez.

Gascón said prosecutors recommended that the brothers’ life sentences without parole be revoked and they be resentenced to 50 years or life in prison with the possibility of parole. Given their ages at the time of the crime, such a sentence would potentially make them eligible for parole as juvenile offenders, even though they had only served about 35 years behind bars.

The decision to resentence the couple will be made by a judge. Prosecutors are expected to work with the defense team and the court to set a hearing date.

If the judge agrees to the resentencing proposed by the district attorney’s office, then the case will be placed in the hands of the state parole board, which will determine whether the brothers are suitable for parole and release from prison. If the board grants parole, the governor can still reject it.

Gascón announced his decision at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

“We are going to recommend to the court (Friday) that the life sentence without the possibility of parole be terminated and they be sentenced to murder,” Gascón said. “I believe they have paid their debt to society,” he said. “The final decision will be made by the judge.”

Gascón said part of his decision was based on an analysis of the brothers’ behavior in prison. Even when faced with the possibility of life in prison, they avoided bad behavior or joining gangs and instead worked to help inmates improve their lives, he said. For example, they worked to create groups to help prisoners cope with untreated injuries and other groups to help prisoners with physical disabilities. Lyle also helped advocate for better living conditions for prisoners, he said.

The brothers themselves and other family members were not notified of his decision in advance, so they most likely would have found out about it by watching his press conference on television. He said he finally made his decision just an hour before the press conference began.

Gascón is currently fighting for re-election against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who released a written statement questioning the timing of the decision so close to the election:

“Prosecutor George Gascón received Menendez’s petition for habeas corpus in May 2023 and a request for resentencing in February 2024. to new murders of innocent people, publish your recommendation to review the sentence. By releasing it now, Gascón has clouded the fairness and impartiality of his decision, allowing Angelenos to question whether the decision was correct and fair, or just another desperate political move. “A district attorney running a losing campaign trying to make headlines with a made-for-TV decision, and everyone involved deserves better.”

During the press conference, Gascón declined to answer questions from reporters specifically about how the decision relates to his campaign.

But when asked what would happen if he lost the election and his successor had a different view of the case, Gascón said it shouldn’t matter because once his office presented its position, the case would be in the hands of the court. The DA’s office plans to file the lawsuit Friday and hopes to get on the docket in the next 30 to 45 days. The elections will take place on November 5.

Attorney Mark Geragos, who represents members of the Menendez family who support the brothers’ release, said a detailed plan has been formulated – and submitted to the district attorney’s office – for their return to society if released. He did not provide details of the plan for security reasons, but noted that both brothers are married to women who earn a living. Both brothers are also in college: Lyle is in graduate school and Eric is in college.

He remains optimistic they will be able to return home by Thanksgiving.

According to Geragos, the family is united by one idea: “Bring them home. Bring them home. Enough is enough.”

The Beverly Hills Police Department, which investigated the 1989 murder, released a statement that neither praised nor criticized the district attorney’s position but noted that their agency was not involved in the decision.

“Today’s decision to recommend resentencing was made entirely by the Los Angeles County District Attorney. The District Attorney’s Office did not consult or contact him about this decision. As the investigative agency in this case, BHPD presented relevant facts and evidence to Los Angeles. by the Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, resulting in criminal charges being filed at that time.”

The decades-old case began on August 20, 1989, when Lyle and Erik Menendez fatally shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the family home in Beverly Hills. Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, were using shotguns they had purchased a few days earlier.

Prosecutors argued that the brothers killed their wealthy parents for financial gain.

The defense argued that the brothers acted in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father.

CONNECTED: New audio of Menendez brothers behind bars released as DA says he’ll review new evidence

Their first trials, which attracted national attention with courtroom cameras, ended in mistrials.

In 1996, at the end of a second trial in which the judge excluded much of the evidence of sexual abuse, the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

The sensational case gained new attention this fall with the release of the Netflix drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and the Netflix documentary “The Menendez Brothers.”

ALSO SEE: The Menendez brothers’ uncle said they should not be released.

This month, Gascón said his office was evaluating new evidence: allegations from a member of the boy band Menudo, who said Jose Menendez molested him, and a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin eight months before the murders, detailing the alleged abuse. over it.

Erik Menendez’s cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but a letter from Erik Menendez that could have corroborated the cousin’s testimony was not discovered until several years ago, Geragos said.

About two dozen relatives of the brothers rallied at a news conference last week to push for a review of the sentences.

CONNECTED: Relatives of the Menendez brothers spoke at a press conference calling for their release from prison.

“Their actions, while tragic, were the desperate reactions of two boys trying to survive their father’s unspeakable cruelty,” said Kitty Menendez’s sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen. “As their aunt, I had no idea how much abuse they suffered.”

“It’s time to give them the opportunity to live the rest of their lives free from the shadow of their past,” she said.

Behind bars, the siblings “strived to become better people and serve as support and inspiration to survivors around the world,” added Jose Menendez’s niece Anamaria Baralt. “Their continued imprisonment serves no rehabilitative purpose.”

The brothers “deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them,” Baralt said.

Despite the massive show of support, one relative – the brothers’ uncle Milton Andersen – is adamant about keeping them behind bars. In his statement, he said he firmly believed his nephews were not sexually abused and were motivated by greed.

ABC News, City News Service and The Associated Press contributed to this report.