Menendez Brothers To Get Resentencing Hearing Over DA's Objections

LOS ANGELES, CA — Erik and Lyle Menendez will get a resentencing hearing despite the new district attorney's opposition, a judge ruled Friday afternoon.

The decision means the brothers could get their shot at freedom with a resentencing hearing scheduled as early next week.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman opposes their release and had sought to withdraw an earlier motion supporting re-sentencing for the brothers, who are serving life-without-parole prison sentences for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in Beverly Hills. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected that bid.

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Prior to Hochman 's November election, former District Attorney George Gascón supported their re-sentencing. Attorneys for the brothers are hoping to have them re-sentenced to a lesser term, either allowing them to be released or become eligible for parole.

Re-sentencing is a more direct path to freedom among many concurrent avenue the brothers are pursuing in their bid to freedom.

They're also asking Gov. Gavin Newsom for clemency, a request that's under review, and their attorney is also seeking a new trial as part of a habeas petition.

Simply put: There's a lot of simultaneous effort going into the question of the Menendez brothers' freedom and a very real possibility that they could be freed from prison, either in the new future or at some point in their lives.

Members of the brothers' family have cited a shift in public sentiment in favor of the Menendezes as one reason why they've been able to gain traction here.

Attorneys for the brothers contend new evidence backs the brothers' claims that they were sexually abused by their father. They have argued for the brothers' convictions to be overturned altogether or that they be granted a new trial, or that they be re-sentenced in a way allowing them to seek parole or be released on time already served behind bars -- about 35 years.

In a 2023 court petition, attorneys for Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, pointed to two new pieces of evidence they contend corroborate the brothers' allegations of long-term sexual abuse at the hands of their father -- a letter allegedly written by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in early 1989 or late 1988, eight months before the August 1989 killings, and recent allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, that he too was sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager

Members of Erik and Lyle Menendez and other supporters recently rallied outside the Hochman's office, urging the DA to reconsider his opposition to resentencing the brothers.

The gathering came days after Hochman outlined a series of what he said were ongoing lies the brothers have told and said he would not support their bid for freedom until they own up to the mistruths.

Until the Menendezes recant those statements, Hochman said he will not support an ongoing effort by their attorneys to get them out of prison.

“Gov. Newsom, today, he could commute their sentences and release them. I, on the other hand, am bound by the facts and the law as it pertains to an analysis of whether resentencing is appropriate,” Hochman said. ”The Menendezes, after over 30 years … persisted in the lie of self-defense and (other) related lies.”

Protestors responded with signs that bore images of Hochman's face with the message "you're the liar."

"Accountability should not be weaponized to deny people the second chance they worked so hard for," said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers and part of the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition. Baralt said the advocates were speaking up "for every person who has been told ... that the worst thing they ever did defines them forever."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Chris Lindahl contributed to this report.