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In October, prosecutors submitted a recommendation for the
brothers’ resentencing on the murder conviction in the 1989
killings of their parents in their Beverly Hills home. George
Gascón, the current district attorney, asked a judge to impose a
new sentence 50 years to life, which could make them eligible
for parole immediately.
Gascón, who was supported by Newsom, lost reelection this month,
so the governor said he would give the incoming district
attorney time to review the case.
“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,” the governor’s office said in a statement
Monday. “The governor will defer to the DA-elect’s review and
analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency
decisions.”
Hochman told The Associated Press last week that he could not
comment on the resentencing recommendation until he has time to
review confidential documents related to the brothers.
The two were originally sentenced in 1996 to life in prison
without the possibility of parole.
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted
they fatally shot their entertainment executive father, Jose
Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez.
They were tried twice for their parents’ murders, with the first
trial ending in a hung jury. The brothers said they feared their
parents were about to kill them to prevent the disclosure of the
father’s longtime sexual molestation of Erik Menendez.
Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial
gain and contended that no such abuse occurred.
The brothers’ extended family has pleaded for their release.
Several family members have said that in today’s world — which
is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse — the brothers would
not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to
life without parole.
Their attorney first filed a petition for their case to be
reexamined in May 2023.
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