Prosecutors recommend resentencing in decades-old Menendez brothers바카라 게임 웹사이트 murder case
Prosecutors recommended Thursday Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 killings of their parents in the family바카라 게임 웹사이트s Beverly Hills home, providing the brothers with a chance at freedom after 34 years behind bars.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced during a Thursday news conference that his office would recommend the brothers receive a new sentence of 50 years to life. Because they were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately, he said.
Resentencing must now be approved by a judge, and the state parole board would have to sign off on the brothers바카라 게임 웹사이트 release.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I came to a place where I believe, under the law, resentencing is appropriate," Gascón said. He said some members of his office oppose the decision.
Prosecutors filed the petition Thursday and a hearing before a judge could come within the next month or so.
The Menendez brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot their entertainment executive father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez. The brothers said they feared their parents were about to kill them to stop people from finding out that Jose Menendez had sexually abused Erik Menendez for years.
Family largely unites to call for brothers' freedom
The brothers바카라 게임 웹사이트 extended family , saying they deserve to be free after decades behind bars. Several family members have said that in today바카라 게임 웹사이트s world 바카라 게임 웹사이트 which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse 바카라 게임 웹사이트 the brothers would not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life.
Multiple members of their extended family, including their aunt Joan Andersen VanderMolen, sat in the first few rows of Thursday's news conference. VanderMolen was Kitty Menendez바카라 게임 웹사이트s sister and has publicly supported their release. Family members said they flew across the country on six hours바카라 게임 웹사이트 notice to be in attendance.
Mark Geragos, an attorney for the brothers, would not say whether he had spoken to Lyle and Erik on Thursday but said he believes they have heard about the district attorney's decision. Geragos said a 바카라 게임 웹사이트reentry plan바카라 게임 웹사이트 has already been drafted if the brothers get released to help them reacclimate to being free.
Anamaria Baralt, a niece of Jose Menendez, said the district attorney's 바카라 게임 웹사이트brave and necessary" decision means 바카라 게임 웹사이트Lyle and Erik can finally begin to heal from the trauma of their past.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Not all Menendez family members support resentencing. Attorneys for Milton Andersen, the 90-year-old brother of Kitty Menendez, filed a legal brief asking the court to keep the brothers바카라 게임 웹사이트 original punishment. 바카라 게임 웹사이트They shot their mother, Kitty, reloading to ensure her death,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Andersen바카라 게임 웹사이트s attorneys said in a statement Thursday. 바카라 게임 웹사이트The evidence remains overwhelmingly clear: the jury바카라 게임 웹사이트s verdict was just, and the punishment fits the heinous crime.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Geragos declined to comment on the statement by Andersen바카라 게임 웹사이트s attorneys.
District attorney believes Erik and Lyle 바카라 게임 웹사이트paid their debt바카라 게임 웹사이트
Gascón said he made the final decision only an hour before the news conference and that family members were told just minutes before.
Despite their life sentences, Gascón said the brothers worked on redemption and rehabilitation inside prison.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I believe that they have paid their debt to society,바카라 게임 웹사이트 he said.
Though Kitty Menendez was not accused of abusing her sons, she appears to have facilitated the abuse, according to her sons' legal filings. One cousin testified during the brothers바카라 게임 웹사이트 first trial that Lyle told her he was too scared to sleep in his room because his father would come in and touch his genitals. When the cousin told Kitty Menendez, she 바카라 게임 웹사이트angrily dragged Lyle upstairs by his arm,바카라 게임 웹사이트 the petition said.
Another family member testified that when Jose Menendez was in the bedroom with one of the boys, no one was allowed to walk down the hallway outside.
The Menendez brothers were tried twice for their parents바카라 게임 웹사이트 murders, with the first trial ending in a hung jury.
Prosecutors at the time contended that there was no evidence of molestation, and many details in the story of sexual abuse were not permitted in the second trial. The district attorney바카라 게임 웹사이트s office also said back then that the brothers were after their parents바카라 게임 웹사이트 multimillion-dollar estate.
How Los Angeles politics could play a role
The LA district attorney is in the middle of a tough reelection fight against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who has blamed Gascón바카라 게임 웹사이트s progressive reform policies for recent high-profile murders and increased retail crime.
Gascón said Thursday that his office has recommended resentencing for some 300 offenders, including people behind bars for murder.
Hochman on Thursday questioned the timing of the Gascón's announcement, coming less than two weeks before the election and calling it a 바카라 게임 웹사이트desperate political move.바카라 게임 웹사이트
He said he is unable to form his own opinion on the case without access to confidential records and relevant witnesses.
바카라 게임 웹사이트If I become DA and the case is still pending at that time, I will conduct a review consistent with how I would review any case,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Hochman said.
Geragos said the DA took the case seriously long before there was any talk of him losing reelection.
Laurie Levenson, a professor of criminal law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, warned that the judge would not likely be a 바카라 게임 웹사이트rubber stamp바카라 게임 웹사이트 on the resentencing recommendation due to dissent within Gascón바카라 게임 웹사이트s office.
바카라 게임 웹사이트That puts the judge actually in a very challenging position,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Levenson said, who noted that she had not heard of any cases until recently where the head of the office disagreed with other lawyers involved in the case. Ultimately, Gascón chose the 바카라 게임 웹사이트safest route바카라 게임 웹사이트 for his decision 바카라 게임 웹사이트 leaving it up to the court and parole board, she said.
Geragos has said he's hopeful the brothers could be freed by Thanksgiving. Levenson called that deadline 바카라 게임 웹사이트awfully hopeful."
Recent documents bring new attention to case
The Menendez case has gained new traction in recent weeks after a new true-crime drama began streaming.
Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, also recently came forward saying he was drugged and raped by Jose Menendez, the boys바카라 게임 웹사이트 father, when he was a teen in the 1980s.
Rossello spoke about his abuse in the 2023 Peacock docuseries 바카라 게임 웹사이트Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.바카라 게임 웹사이트 His allegations are part of the evidence listed in the petition filed last year by the Menendez brothers바카라 게임 웹사이트 attorney, seeking a review of their case. Rossello바카라 게임 웹사이트s assertion that he was raped twice by Jose Menendez is part of the Menendez brothers바카라 게임 웹사이트 petition.
Menudo was signed under RCA Records, which Jose Menendez headed at the time.