May 13 (UPI) — A resentencing hearing for the Menendez brothers is set to get underway Tuesday after months of delays in the case.
Los Angeles Judge Michael V. Jesic will listen to arguments during the two-day hearing to determine if Erik and Lyle Menendez will be immediately eligible for parole, as they both are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole after being convicted on the 1989 murder of their parents.
The pair has argued that they killed their parents in self-defense after years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, and family members have argued for their release as well.
However, family members are not expected to be among the witnesses set to testify in the hearing which will include prosecutors who worked the case as well as former inmates and corrections officers.
The resentencing hearing allows the judge to weigh factors like the brothers’ efforts to rehabilitate themselves during their sentencing.
The hearing was pushed for by former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, and has garnered public support following the Netflix documentary The Menednez Brothers, which chronicled the case.
However, new District Attorney Nathan Hochman has opposed the resentencing effort and has argued that the killings were premeditated and not an act of self-defense, citing six “unacknowledged lies” the brothers have told.
The hearing had previously been set for April, but California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a risk assessment, which found that the brothers were only a “moderate risk” to commit violence if released.
A motion made by Hochman during a hearing on May 9 to cancel the resentencing based on the risk assessments was denied by the judge, leading to Tuesday’s trial start date.
Both Menendez brothers were found responsible for cell phone violations since late 2024, but the judge ruled that the information was not sufficient to result in a withdrawal of the motion to resentence.
Newsom could commute the brothers’ sentences at any time but has not done so. The parole board is expected to hold a hearing in June, and at that time will offer its recommendation to the governor.
Attorneys for the brothers have also pursued a new trial as they purport to have new evidence against the brothers’ father, which includes a letter sent from Erik Menendez to a family member in 1988 that references the alleged abuse.
