Menendez Brothers Score Resentencing Hearing as Court Dismisses New District Attorney’s Request
Erik and Lyle Menendez achieved a significant victory in their ongoing quest for freedom on Friday, as a California judge ruled in their favor, allowing their resentencing hearing to proceed. This decision dealt a setback to the new Los Angeles district attorney.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic issued the ruling, which rejected District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s request to dismiss a motion from his predecessor aimed at reducing the brothers’ life sentences for the 1989 murder of their parents to 50 years.
The brothers participated in the court proceedings via Zoom but refrained from commenting on the ruling.
As a result of this decision, the resentencing hearing set for Thursday in Van Nuys will move forward. If the hearing takes place, Erik and Lyle Menendez, who have been exemplary inmates for the past 35 years in federal prison, could become eligible for parole, given that they were under 29 years of age at the time of the murders.
“Everything you argued today is absolutely fair game for the resentencing hearing next Thursday,” Judge Jesic told Hochman and attorney Habib Balian from the district attorney’s office.
During the hearing, Balian contended that former D.A. George Gascón’s resentencing petition overlooked critical details of the original crime. On August 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez killed their parents, Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menéndez, in the den of their Beverly Hills home. The brothers were arrested months later, and claims of self-defense were dismissed by half of two deadlocked juries in separate trials, and later barred from discussion in a joint retrial where they were found guilty.
In recent years, new evidence has emerged that has garnered public sympathy for the brothers, including a letter found in a deceased cousin’s desk. In this letter, Erik Menendez detailed the abuse he endured, written just eight months before the murders. Additionally, a former member of Menudo has come forward, alleging he suffered abuse at the hands of Jose Menendez.
Balian asserted that the brothers killed their parents out of greed, referencing notes from a psychiatrist at the time who indicated that “this was not self-defense.” Mark Geragos, the celebrity attorney representing the Menendez brothers, dismissed these claims, criticizing Hochman for politicizing the case and echoing sentiments from many in the Menendez family regarding the new D.A.’s perspective.
Geragos remarked on the prosecution’s arguments, stating, “They have authorized the denial of sexual abuse.”
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