The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has indicated that it would like to postpone Thursday’s hearing, which is a critical one in Erik and Lyle Menendez’s efforts to get out of prison.
Lyle and Erik Menendez will return to court Thursday for a high-stakes resentencing that could move them closer to freedom. This is despite the objections of Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
In a late-Wednesday filing, prosecutors have asked the court to get a copy of the recently completed risk assessment performed on the brothers at the California Board of Parole Hearings, upon the request of Governor Gavin Newsom. The district attorney’s filing urges the court to delay sentencing in the event that the court is unable to get a copy of the report before the hearing.
The filing says, “On April 15th, 2025, the People learned that the Parole Board had completed its Comprehensive Risk Assessment Reports on Lyle and Erik Menendez.” It continues, “There’s no reason for the Court not to have the most recent and accurate risk assessments available before it makes any sentencing decisions in this matter.” “The People believe the Court should be able to access all information available before making any sentencing decision in this case.”
The filing states, “To the extent that the Court requires additional time to obtain the documents from the Governor’s office, the People ask for a continuance if necessary.”
The brothers, who have been serving life without parole in prison for the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989, are now fighting for their release after 35 years.
A judge will determine if they are worthy of freedom if the court decides that Thursday’s hearing on resentencing should proceed. Ten members of the family are prepared to testify at the hearing. A prison expert and a former inmate could also be called.
Lyle and Erik Menendez won a big victory in court on Friday when the judge ruled that Nathan Hochman could withdraw the resentencing request submitted by George Gascon, the former DA who had supported resentencing.
In his three-hour-long argument on Friday, the DA argued that the brothers — who watched the hearing on video — had not taken responsibility for their acts, and he called the claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.” Hochman dismissed the brothers’ claims that their father had sexually abused them.
Mark Geragos, Menendez’s attorney, retaliated by calling Hochman “a ’90s Neanderthal”, for refusing the believe the brothers.
The judge denied Hochman’s withdrawal motion on Friday and stated that the resentencing of the brothers will take place as scheduled this Thursday and Friday.
Geragos said, “The decision was probably the biggest since they were in custody.”
He said, “They have waited for justice for a very long time.”
Hochman stated in a press release after the ruling that “we concluded that the case wasn’t ripe for sentencing because the Menendez Brothers continue to fail to show full insight and accept responsibility for their entire criminal action and cover-up. This includes the fabrications of the self-defense defence and their lies regarding their father being violently rapist and their mother being poisoner and their attempt to obtain a gun for self-defense on the day before murder.”
He said that until the Menendez Brothers finally admit to their self-defense lies, suborning, and trying to suborn perjury, they have not been rehabilitated. They pose a risk to public safety and are not rehabilitated.
The possibility of a resentence gained momentum when Hochman’s predecessor, Gascon, announced that he supported a resentence.
Gascon suggested that their life sentences without parole be removed and they be sentenced to murder instead, which would result in a 50-year sentence. Both brothers were younger than 26 years old at the time they committed the crimes. They would therefore be eligible for parole with the new sentence.
Gascon’s Office said that its resentencing recommendation takes into consideration many factors, including rehabilitation in prison, abuse or trauma that contributed to the crime. Gascon, who lost his November reelection campaign to Hochman, praised Lyle and Erik Menendez for their work behind bars in rehabilitating themselves and helping other inmates.
Over 20 Menendez family members support the brothers’ freedom. Last week, several of these relatives, including Diane VanderMolen’s cousin, spoke out. She said Erik Menendez had asked her to convey a message.
They are deeply, truly sorry for what happened. VanderMolen added, “They are deeply remorseful. They are filled with regret over what they have done. They have become remarkable people because of that.”
The brothers can also choose to be freed by resentencing.
The first is their request for a pardon to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Newsom ordered the parole board in February to conduct a “comprehensive assessment of risk” for 90 days to determine whether Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez would pose an “unreasonable risk to the public” should they be granted clemency.
Newsom stated that the brothers would appear in independent parole hearings in June after the risk assessment is complete. Hochman claimed this in his filing.
Another option is the habeas corpus request that the brothers filed in 2023 to review two new pieces of evidence, not included in the trial. These were a letter Erik Menendez sent to his cousin 8 months before the murders, detailing the alleged abuse he received from his father.
Hochman asked the court in February to deny habeas corpus, arguing that the new evidence presented by the brothers was not credible or admissible.
