A California judge has given Erik and Lyle Menendez, who had been sentenced to life in prison for the murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills home, a chance at freedom after 35 years behind bars.
Judge Michael Jesic shortens the brothers’ sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life. They’re now eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26. They would still need approval from the state’s parole board to be released.
Their lawyers say they are immediately eligible for parole, however they will remain incarcerated while their parole status is decided.
“I’m not saying they should be released; it’s not for me to decide,” Jesic said. “I do believe they’ve done enough in the past 35 years, that they should get that chance.”
Erik and Lyle Menendez, now 54 and 57 years old, did not show any apparent emotion during most of the testimony as they appeared via livestream video from prison in San Diego, but chuckled when one of their cousins, Diane Hernandez, told the court that Erik Menendez received A+ grades in all of his classes during his most recent semester in college.
The ruling capped a day-long hearing in which several relatives, a retired judge and a former fellow prisoner testified in support of defense efforts to shorten the brothers’ sentence to time already served, or at least gaining their eligibility for parole.
The defense on Tuesday began by calling Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of Erik and Lyle, who testified that the brothers have repeatedly expressed remorse for their actions.
“We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough,” Baralt said. “They are universally forgiven by our family.”
Another cousin, Tamara Goodell, said she had recently taken her 13-year-old son to meet the brothers in prison, and that the brothers would contribute a lot of good to the world if released.
The brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder in the killings of José and Kitty Menendez in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Their defense attorneys said they feared their parents were going to kill them to cover up years of sexual, psychological and physical abuse they had suffered. Prosecutors portrayed the brothers as rich young men eager for their multimillion-dollar inheritance. Over the years they repeatedly appealed their convictions without success.
But support for the brothers has grown significantly in recent years. Recently their chances for release appeared more hopeful than they had in decades as they sought freedom through multiple legal avenues, including by asking for a new trial in light of new evidence of their father’s abuse, a petition for clemency from the governor, and the request for resentencing.
The brothers, who were 18 and 21 at the time of the murders, have long argued their innocence and have recently sought freedom through multiple legal avenues, including asking for a new trial in light of new evidence of their father’s abuse, a petition for clemency from the governor, and a request for resentencing. Their resentencing hearings have been delayed repeatedly since January amid the LA wildfires and disputes between the defense and prosecution.
Los Angeles county prosecutors were opposed to resentencing, saying the brothers have not taken complete responsibility for the crime.
“I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle said in a statement to the court on Tuesday. “The impact of my violent actions on my family … is unfathomable.”
George Gascón, the progressive former Los Angeles county district attorney, had recommended the brothers be resentenced, which would have opened the door to their release. He said he believed the brothers were “subjected to a tremendous amount” of dysfunction and molestation, and said his office would have handled the case differently due to modern understandings of sexual abuse. He also pointed to the brother’s rehabilitation during their decades behind bars. In prison, Erik and Lyle have earned college degrees and served as mentors and caregivers.
The current district attorney, Nathan Hochman, who succeeded Gascón, quickly reversed course and said he was opposed to the brothers’ resentencing. He argued the brothers have not taken full responsibility and his office has said it does not believe they were abused.
With Hochman in position as DA, prosecutors attempted twice to withdraw their office’s resentencing petition. Jesic ruled both times that the resentencing hearings could continue despite their opposition.
Jonathan Colby, a former judge who said he considered himself tough on crime, told the court on Tuesday that he was impressed with the programs the brothers started during their time in prison to provide aid and care for older and disabled prisoners. He got to know them over a series of prison visits.
“There’s not many prisoners I meet like Erik and Lyle that have such concern for the elderly,” he said.
Former prisoner Anerae Brown cried as he testified about how the brothers helped him heal and get on the path to rehabilitation, leading to his release from prison.
He called the programs they started “Menendez University”.
“I have children now,” he said. “Without Lyle and Erik I might still be sitting in there doing stupid things.”
Associated Press contributed to this report
