CNN
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More than three decades after Lyle and Eric Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents and sentenced to life in prison without parole, the brothers are now looking at a path to their possible release.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said Friday that a judge will recommend that the siblings be extradited — the culmination of a review in 2023 after defense attorneys said there was new evidence pointing to their father’s abuse.
“I will never condone murder, they were brutal, premeditated murders,” Gascon told CNN Thursday. “They were given the right sentence at the time they were tried. They got life without parole. Given the current state of the law and our assessment of their behavior in prison, I think they deserve to be re-evaluated and reintegrated into society.”
A hearing on the matter could take 30 to 45 days, with a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ultimately deciding whether the brothers will plead guilty. Gascon He said he supports the resentment toward the brothers — with the possibility of parole — which usually means 50 years to life in prison. But because the crimes occurred when the brothers were under 26, they are eligible for juvenile parole under California law.
Gascon, who called the brothers “model inmates,” told CNN he believes they have a good chance of being paroled if the decision comes down to the parole board. An attorney for one of the brothers said they hope to be home by Thanksgiving.
The retrial comes more than 35 years after the 1989 shooting deaths of Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills mansion. Their sons, who were 21 and 18 at the time, were arrested a year later, in 1990, and convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder.
At two high-profile hearings, the brothers did not deny killing their parents, but argued they were not guilty because they had endured a lifetime of physical and sexual abuse by their father and acted in self-defense. The first trial — one of the first to be televised — ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked on the charges. At their second trial, much of the defense’s evidence of sexual abuse was dismissed, and the brothers were convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison.
Several factors ultimately led to the bitter recommendation, but it remains uncertain whether the brothers, now in their 50s, can be released from prison. Here’s what was decided and what might happen next:
Although Gascón believes Lyle and Eric Menendez were punished appropriately during their trials three decades ago, he told CNN’s Stephanie Elam on Thursday that they deserve to be reevaluated. Gascon said he believes the brothers were sexually abused before the murders and that they have served enough time behind bars.
Gascon’s decision was made an hour before Thursday’s announcement because his office had differing opinions on the case, he told CNN. Several factors went into the decision to suggest an upset, with several family members “very clear that there may have been sexual abuse, but they say it was a very dysfunctional, very abusive home. For years,” Gascon said.
“I believe they have served enough time,” he said.
After lawyers for the Menendez brothers filed a habeas corpus petition in 2023, Gascon retrialed the case. California law Impeachment that the court may consider punishments in comparable cases.
Among the new evidence, the 2023 petition asked the court to consider: the affidavit of former Menudo Boy band member Roy Rossello, who accused Jose Menendez of sexually assaulting him in the 1980s. Prosecutors also said a letter Eric Menendez wrote to a relative months before the murders indicated the abuse he suffered.
Gascón, who is campaigning for re-election next month on a platform that includes sentencing reform, told CNN times have changed in how the public and the courts treat victims of sexual abuse.
Gascon said the district attorney’s office reviewed the brothers’ behavior while incarcerated, and they “have made great efforts to rehabilitate.”
“By all accounts they have been model prisoners. Not only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have also done a lot of work to improve the lives of those around them. That part is extraordinary,” Gascon told CNN, adding that the men formed groups to address how to deal with untreated trauma and how to help prisoners with physical disabilities.
Gascon said there was a strong possibility the brothers would be paroled, citing their behavior over the past three decades in prison.
“What they did was terrible. They planned to kill their parents and killed them. But I think they are different people today and we are basing our opinion on the behavior of the last 35 years,” Gascon said.
According to the district attorney, if the court agrees with the district attorney’s office on the charges, the decision on whether the brothers should be paroled will ultimately rest with the parole board.
Asked about mounting criticism from protesters who suggested the Menendez brothers’ reconsideration was a political move, “there’s nothing political about it,” Gascon said, adding that more than 300 protests have taken place in the county since he took office in December 2020. Including 28 for murder.
Thursday’s decision brought a ray of hope to the brothers’ lawyers and families, who said they hoped the men would soon be reunited with loved ones and able to live a life outside prison.
“I hope they’ll be home before Thanksgiving,” Mark Geragos, one of the brothers’ attorneys, said Thursday.
“We are grateful that the district attorney recognized not only the extraordinary contributions Eric and Lyle made while incarcerated, but also the role that sexual abuse played in their actions,” another attorney, Cliff Gardner, told CNN.
A petition for rehabilitation will be filed Friday with exhibits supporting Gascon’s recommendation, said Nancy Theberge, deputy chief of Gascon’s rehabilitation division.
Later, he said, his division would coordinate with security and court staff to set dates for further proceedings. Once a hearing date is set, the parties can decide whether the brothers will be present in the courtroom or appear by video or conference. All arguments and evidence will be accepted at that time. The judge will rule based on what was presented, Thiberge said.
“We’re just starting the process,” he said.
A habeas corpus petition filed last year, separate from the restitution recommendation, is scheduled for hearing in November. The defense asked the court to vacate the brothers’ conviction and sentence, or allow discovery and evidentiary hearings.
But if the defense team accepts the DA’s recusal, they could withdraw the plea — which would also be moot if the court agreed to recusal, Gascón told CNN Thursday.
“I disagree with the arguments on habeas. I think the sentence is appropriate given what happened,” Gascon told CNN. “But I believe that resentment is an appropriate vehicle to offer them some means of relief.”
The brothers’ story has taken on new interest following the September release of the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Eric Menendez Story,” co-created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. Netflix released a documentary about the Menendez case this month in which the two discuss what led up to the murders.
“It’s a miraculous day for the Menendez brothers,” said Neri Yenklan, executive producer of the documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayal.”
“They’ve exhausted their appeals years ago. They don’t even have a chance to believe in freedom, and only new compelling evidence can come forward to give them a shot,” Ynclan told CNN’s Laura Coates on Thursday night.
Celebrity and criminal justice reform advocate Kim Kardashian has been vocal about her support for the brothers, thanking Gascon for “righting a significant wrong.”
“Your commitment to truth and honesty is commendable,” she wrote in a statement on Instagram Stories. “Even when guilt is not in question, this case highlights the importance of challenging decisions and seeking the truth.”
Jose Menendez’s niece Anamaria Barrault called Gascon’s decision “courageous and necessary.”
“Today is a day of hope for our family,” he said Thursday. “Together we can make sure Eric and Lyle get the justice they deserve and finally come home.”
