Menendez brothers resentencing hearing being decided on today
A judge is set to decide Friday whether to proceed with resentencing hearings for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents, in light of Los Angeles’s new district attorney opposing their release after 30 years behind bars.The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at ages 18 and 21 after being convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.While the defense argued they acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.Los Angeles County’s previous progressive district attorney, George Gascón, sought resentencing for the brothers before he lost reelection to tough-on-crime candidate Nathan Hochman in November.
Gascón had asked a judge to change the brothers’ sentence to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for release under California law because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.But last month, Hochman submitted a motion to withdraw that request, saying he did not support the brothers’ resentencing because they had not admitted to lies they told as the case unfolded about why they killed their parents and did not “fully recognize, acknowledge, and accept complete responsibility” for their crime.On Friday, the court will decide whether to allow prosecutors to withdraw their resentencing motion.If that request is granted, the judge also will decide whether to proceed independently with the brothers’ resentencing hearings, which are tentatively scheduled for April 17 and 18.The district attorney’s opposition poses a major hurdle for the brothers, whose path to resentencing was all but certain with Gascón’s support.The family’s relationship with Hochman also has soured.
Most of the brothers’ extended family supports their resentencing.Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez�...