A resentencing hearing for Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, Menendez was halted on Thursday by a judge, who ruled in favor of a last-minute motion filed by Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic postponed the two-day hearing so that he and defense attorneys for the Menendez brothers could review a portion of a comprehensive risk assessment completed by the parole board on April 15.
“We want all facts to come out at this hearing—good, bad, or indifferent,” Hochman told reporters the morning of April 17. “Our answer to resentencing is not ‘no.’ It’s not yet.”
The Menendez brothers appeared remotely in court wearing blue prison garb from a San Diego jail where they are currently incarcerated.
On April 11, Jesic had set a hearing for April 17 and April 18 to determine whether the brothers deserved lesser sentences, nearly 30 years following their conviction for the 1989 Beverly Hills murders of their parents, Mary “Kitty” Menendez and Jose Menendez.
Jesic announced that his decision on whether to use the risk assessment report, which was ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom, in the resentencing hearings would not come quickly.
“I need clarification from the governor’s office,” Jesic said in the courtroom.
The comprehensive risk assessment is not yet completed, but one component was released to the parties for their review 60 days before the clemency hearing in June, and is subject to correction. The report will be completed on June 13.
The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder following more than a dozen shotgun blasts that occurred that night, including through the back of their father’s head, according to Hochman.
The late Jose Menendez had been an entertainment executive in the 1980s.
After the Menendez brothers had run out of ammunition, Hochman alleged they reloaded the shotgun and shot their mother’s face. He added that the brothers shot both of their parents’ knees to imitate a Mafia hit.
Erik Menendez testified that he had encountered sexual abuse by their father between the ages of 6 and 18, and he also recalled the alleged sexual abuse that his brother Lyle had experienced by their father between the ages of 6 and 8.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were 18 and 21 years old, respectively, at the time of the murders.
The resentencing hearing would have evaluated whether the brothers have been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a lesser sentence of 50 years to life.
Because the brothers committed the crimes before they were 26 years old, they would be immediately eligible for release under California law.
The California Board of Parole Hearings did not respond to NTD’s requests for comment by publication time.
