Judge Hears Pleas From Menendez Family To Resentence Brothers

LOS ANGELES, CA — Uncertainty around Erik and Lyle Menendez's multipronged effort to get out of prison continued Monday after a judge said he won't rule on whether the brothers should be resentenced until next year, in part, to allow for the incoming district attorney to review the case.

A new two-day hearing, set to begin Jan. 30, will replace a previously scheduled Dec. 11 hearing. The brothers' attorney, Mark Geragos, is hoping to have them resentenced on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter based on what he says is new evidence supporting the brothers' long-held claim they were sexually abused by their father.

"The judge has now set January 30th and 31st as the days for a ... hearing on the resentencing," Geragos said, adding that the judge has asserted full jurisdiction over the case. "He's going to ... ask for further briefing, and by January 30th or 31st, we're hoping by the end of that or sometime sooner that we will in fact get the brothers released."

The pair were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the chance of parole for killing their parents, Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989.

Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s sister, and Teresita Baralt, Jose’s older sister, asked for their release Monday, saying 35 years was a long time for the brothers after suffering abuse.

"No child should have to endure what Lyle and Eric have lived through," VanderMolen said. "No child should have to live ... knowing that at night, their father was going to rape them. It's time for them to come home."

A tearful Baralt said on the stand “we miss those who are gone tremendously ... but we miss the kids too."

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón last month requested that the judge resentence the brothers, who have spent 35 years behind bars. He recommended to the court the brothers' original sentence — life without parole — be removed and that they be sentenced to 50 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Because of their age at the time of the crimes, the brothers would immediately be eligible for youthful parole, which would be decided by a parole board, Gascón said.

While the resentencing decision is ultimately up to the judge, a favorable recommendation from the district attorney could carry a lot of weight. Now, things have been complicated by Gascón's election defeat earlier this month.

Incoming district attorney Nathan Hochman, who campaigned on a platform of being tougher on crime than Gascón, said he won't simply pick up where Gascón left off — he told ABC news he needs to "actually do the work myself" on the Menendez case.

Hochman, who released a statement in response to Monday's decision, hasn't indicated where he stands on the matter.

"Judge Jesic's decision to continue the hearing on the resentencing motion to January 30-31 will provide me with sufficient time to review the extensive prison records, transcripts of two lengthy trials and voluminous exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and victim family members," Hochman said in a statement. "I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court."

The resentencing bid is just one effort by the Menendez team for a reconsideration of the case.

The brothers' lawyers petitioned Gov. Gavin Newsom to consider clemency.
Newsom earlier this month said he'll defer to Hochman on that question.

The governor has broad power to grant clemency under the state Constitution, including commutations of sentence and pardons.

“Once I take office on Dec. 3, I look forward to putting in the hard work to thoroughly review the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison files, the transcripts of the two trials and the voluminous exhibits, as well as speaking with the prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim family members,” Hochman said in a statement.

He said that work will inform him as he takes a position on the question of clemency and resentencing.

The efforts to revisit the brothers' conviction and sentencing is supported by a change in how society views boys as victims of sexual abuse and renewed advocacy around the case fueled by social media content creators and a new documentary, members of the Menendez family say.

The evidence submitted to the courts as part of the resentencing bid includes a letter written by Erik Menendez to his cousin eight months before the killing and recent allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, that he was also sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager, their attorney says.

The Menendez brothers were tried twice after the first trial ended in a hung jury. During the second trial, prosecutors argued there was no evidence of sexual abuse, and details of the brothers' claims were not permitted in the second trial, ending in their conviction. Prosecutors at the time argued that the Erik and Lyle Menendez sought to profit from their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.

The brothers — now 56 and 53 — never denied carrying out the killings, but maintained they feared for their lives amid their father's abuse.

The pair attended Monday's hearing in Van Nuys via an audio link from prison in San Diego. They were supposed to appear via video, but technical issues prevented it.

The brothers did not speak, other than acknowledging they were able to hear the proceeding.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.