Menendez Brothers Resentencing: DA Pushes For Immediate Parole Eligibility

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón plans to push a judge to resentence Lyle and Erik Menendez, he announced Thursday. If the effort is successful, the brothers — who are serving life prison terms without the possibility of parole for killing their parents in 1989 — could be eligible for parole "immediately" and could soon walk free, he said.

Gascón at a news conference said he will share his official opinion with the judge who is handling the brothers' resentencing bid, which comes after they've spent 34 years behind bars. While Gascón's recommendation carries weight, it's ultimately up to the judge to decide whether the brothers should receive a lesser sentence than the one handed down after they were convicted in 1996 — and exactly what that sentence should be.

"I came to a place where I believe, under the law, resentencing is appropriate, and I'm going to recommend that to a court tomorrow," Gascón said.

Gascón said he will recommend to the court that the brothers' original sentence be removed and that they be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Because the brothers were under 26 when the crime occurred, they would immediately be eligible for youthful parole, Gascón said.

The brothers' attorneys are urging the courts to revisit their infamous case as new evidence has surfaced they say supports the brothers' long-held claim that their father, Jose Menendez, had sexually abused them before they gunned down him and their mother, Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. The effort 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 Menendez legal team is pursuing two separate legal tracks: They filed in court to have the conviction overturned and separately, they're making a case to Gascón that he should support their efforts to have the brothers resentenced.

Gascón on Thursday said he believes the brothers demonstrated they have been rehabilitated based on their conduct and achievement in prison. If Judge William Ryan agrees with Gascón's sentencing recommendation, the brothers would be eligible for parole: A parole board would decide whether the brothers have indeed been rehabilitated and should be released.

Gascón cited the brothers' leadership in prison as one of the reasons they deserve a shot at parole. Despite having no hope of ever getting out of prison, they spent their time behind bars working to make other people's lives better, he said. Notably, they created groups to help inmates deal with untreated trauma and advocated for inmates with physical disabilities, Gascón said.

He acknowledged that his decision would be controversial, especially in his own office.

"We don't have a universal agreement. There are people in the office that strongly believe that the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their lives and they do not believe they were molested," Gascón said. "And there are people in the office who believe they should be released immediately and that they were molested."

He added: "It is very possible that there may be members of this office that will be pressing the court, opposing the resentencing, and they have a right to do so ... And we encourage those that disagree with us to speak, and the court is the appropriate place to do it."

Members of the Menendez family gathered on Oct. 16 for a news conference outside the Los Angeles courthouse where the brothers were sentenced to life in prison nearly 30 years ago to make their case to the public.

“The world was not ready to believe that young boys could be raped ... today we know better," said Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez's sister. "“As details of Lyle and Erik’s abuse came to light, it became clear that their actions, while tragic, were the desperate actions by two boys attempting to survive their father's abuse."

Gascón agreed Thursday, saying that while he maintains there is no excuse for murder, "I understand also how sometimes people get desperate. We often see women, for instance, that have been battered for years and sometimes they will murder their abuser out of desperation."

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.

Jose and Kitty Menendez were gunned down by Lyle, then 21, and Erik, 18, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. The brothers — now 56 and 53 — never denied carrying out the killings, but maintained they feared for their lives amid their father's abuse.

VanderMolen was among those who appears in "The Menendez Brothers," a Netflix documentary released earlier this month. The film includes all-new jailhouse interviews with the brothers and details some of the new evidence submitted as part of the brothers' efforts to be resentenced or have their convictions overturned.

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

The musician, Roy Rosselló, alleged that Jose Menendez drugged and sexually assaulted him when he was about 14 years old in the 1980s at the Menendez home.

Rosselló was a member of Menudo and Jose Menendez was an executive at RCA Records, which signed the Puerto Rican boy band to a recording contract.

Mark Geragos, the Menendez brothers' attorney, said that Rosselló signed a declaration attesting to Jose Menendez's abuse, which backs up the idea that the Menendez home was a "safe place" to commit abuse.

"It corroborates what the family members said was the very uncomfortable rule in the house: That you could not go down the hallway if Jose was with one of the boys — that was the ground upon which he preyed," Geragos said.

In their successful conviction of the brothers at a second trial, prosecutors a pointed to lavish spending sprees by the brothers after the killings as proof the brothers killed their parents for money.

Among the new details revealed in the documentary was Erik Menendez saying his post-murder shopping spree was a response to suicidal ideations. "The idea that I was having a good time is absurd. Everything was to cover up this horrible pain of not wanting to be alive," he said.

While many members of Jose and Kitty Menendez' families presented a united front calling for the brothers resentencing earlier this month, not everyone is in agreement.

An attorney representing Kitty Menendez's brother, Milton Andersen, said in a statement that her client believes justice was served and that his nephews should remain in prison. The attorney, Kathleen Cady, said this week that she has received information suggesting the letter the brothers attorney claims was sent by Erik Menendez to his cousin is fraudulent and shouldn't be considered.

Gascón's efforts in the case come as he has been making decisions on several controversial cases in the weeks leading up to the election that will decide if he gets to stay on the job for another four years.

The district attorney was elected in 2020 on a progressive platform that included sentencing reform. But over the last four years his critics have blasted him as being soft on crime, leading up to a what pollsters have predicted will be a landslide victory on Nov. 5 for his opponent, self-described "hard center" candidate Nathan Hochman.

In addition to the Menendez case, Gascón is working to vacate the convictions of two people who have been behind bars for nearly two decades for a murder he says they did not commit. He said he's also working on a case based on sexual abuse allegations against musician Marilyn Manson, an announcement that came after public pressure from Hochman.

Hochman quickly responded to Gascón's announcement about the Menendez case, issuing a release to KNX that blasted the DA for his timing.

"He waited until days before the November election ... by releasing it now, Gascón has cast a doubt over the fairness and impartiality of his decision," the statement reads.

Gascón said his staff has spent hundreds of hours on the case after receiving the new evidence earlier this year. If the brothers are resentenced, they'll mark the 333rd and 334th successful cases handled by the DA's resentencing unit, which was established by Gascón in 2021, he said.

Patch staffer Paige Austin and City News Service contributed reporting.