Menendez brothers resentencing hearing set for today inside Van Nuys courtroom
After spending more than three decades behind bars, Erik and Lyle are set to have their resentencing hearing inside a Van Nuys courtroom Tuesday morning.
The Menendez brothers are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, inside their Beverly Hills home.
Erik and Lyle are asking for early release based on the claim that the killings were committed after years of abuse, including alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse.
An effort to release the brothers from prison has been underway for about two years after a 2023 court petition was filed by the brothers' attorneys, saying new evidence corroborated the brothers' allegations of sexual abuse by their father.
Defense attorneys are hoping to win a reduced sentence for the brothers, possibly allowing them to either be released immediately or at least eligible for parole consideration. The resentencing hearing is expected to last two days at the Van Nuys Courthouse.
The brothers' appellate attorneys were seeking to have the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office removed from the case and filed a recusal motion last month. Newly elected DA Nathan Hochman did not support the former DA's resentencing motion, an effort to make them eligible for parole.
Since the brothers were under 26 at the time of the murders, they could be eligible for parole through the state's youthful offender law.
Hochman said the Menendez brothers have not "taken complete responsibility for their crimes by continuing for the past over 30 years to lie."
On Friday, LA County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic was expected to consider the recusal motion in his Van Nuys courtroom, but attorney Mark Geragos pulled the request. The defense said they did not want any more delays in the resentencing hearing.
Another bid for freedom includes the brothers' request for clemency. Gov. Gavin Newsom had ordered a state parole board comprehensive risk assessment on the brothers in order to proceed with consideration of the request.
Hochman said in court Friday that the board "determined that each of the Menendez brothers constituted a moderate risk of violence, which was higher than the prior determinations of low risk of violence." He added that the board's risk assessment cited actions by the brothers that formed the basis for its conclusions, including a January incident in which Erik Menendez was allegedly found with a cell phone that was illegally brought into prison.
State parole boards are set to conduct separate hearings on June 13 for the brothers, then send their reports to Newsom to help him decide whether the two should receive clemency.
Geragos argued Friday that the information from the risk assessment should not be allowed in the proceedings, saying the parole board does not allow psychologists to testify in hearings, including resentencing hearings. Hochman argued to the contrary, asking that the risk assessment findings be considered in resentencing proceedings.
