- Erik and Lyle Menendez scored a legal victory on Friday, April 11 after a judge dismissed new L.A. District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s petition to withdraw the brother’s resentencing request, allowing the hearing to proceed
- Hochman argued the Menendez brothers “failed to meet the requirements” to show they are not a danger to society
- The brothers were sentenced to life in prison in 1996 for the killings of their parents
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearing will continue, a Los Angeles County judge ruled on Friday, April 11, reports the Associated Press.
Last year, former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón asked a judge to resentence the brothers to 50 years to life in prison. They would be immediately eligible for parole because they committed their crime when they were younger than 26. However, Gascón’s successor, Nathan Hochman, did not support resentencing and submitted a motion to withdraw the resentencing request.
On Friday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic dismissed the petition.
Last month, Hochman announced that he would not recommend resentencing for Lyle and Erik for fatally shooting their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, in their $5 million Beverly Hills home in 1989.
“In looking at whether they have exhibited full insight and complete responsibility for their crimes, they have not,” Hochman said at a press conference in March.
“If they acknowledge the lies they have told for over 30 years,” he said, “then we will certainly evaluate the quality of that sincerity.”
The brothers, Hochman said, “failed to meet the requirements” to show they are not a danger to society.
During Friday’s hearing, Jesic said prosecutors could make their argument during the resentencing hearing, which is now scheduled for Thursday, April 17.
The hearing was initially delayed so Hochman, who took office in November, could review what he said was “tens of thousands of pages of trial transcripts from two months-long trials, of the thousands of pages of prison records, of the hundreds of hours of videotaped trial testimony, of all relevant pleadings, exhibits and statements, as well as interviewing victim family members, defense counsel, prior prosecutors, and law enforcement and the applicable law.”
Hochman’s decision has angered family members of the Menendez brothers who have claimed that Hochman has a “personal bias” against the brothers’ bid for release.
“Erik and Lyle have apologized, taken responsibility, and expressed sincere remorse, again and again, with no underlining motive other than to grow, mature, and rehabilitate,” said Tamara Goodell, cousin of Erik and Lyle Menendez. “They recognize the wide scale impact their actions have had on us, their family. Since then, we have seen their relentless commitment to emotional growth, earning degrees and uplifting those around them. That is the definition of rehabilitation in my eyes.”
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The brothers were convicted in 1996 of shooting and killing their parents and were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The brothers, who claimed they were sexually abused by Jose, insisted they killed their parents because they feared for their lives.
Earlier this year, Hochman delivered the first setback to the brothers’ chances of getting out of prison when he announced he would oppose a habeas corpus petition filed by the pair in 2023. The petition focused on sexual abuse allegations by Roy Rosselló, a Menudo boy band member, against Jose, whom he claims raped him in the 1980s. The petition also cited a letter Erik purportedly wrote to his now-deceased cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse prior to the murders.
The brothers are scheduled to appear in front of a parole board on June 13 after Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he asked the California parole board to review whether the brothers are risks to the public if they go free.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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