A judge on April 11 allowed a resentencing hearing to proceed next week for the Menendez brothers despite opposition from Los Angeles County District Attorney (DA) Nathan Hochman.
Judge Michael Jesic rejected Hochman’s motion to withdraw the resentencing recommendation for Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, Menendez, who have spent more than 30 years behind bars for the murder of their parents in 1989. The resentencing hearing is on April 17.
After the hearing, the brothers’ defense attorney, Mark Geragos, thanked Jesic.
“Justice won over politics,” Geragos said. “It’s been a long time coming for anybody who’s been in the courtroom. This is probably the biggest day since [the brothers] have been in custody.”
The Menendez brothers appeared remotely at the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys on April 11, wearing blue prison garb. They are currently incarcerated in a San Diego prison.
Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian argued to Jesic on behalf of the prosecution that the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance. Hochman was present at the hearing.
Geragos said his clients had acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father.
The motion to resentence was filed by Hochman’s predecessor George Gascón in October 2024.
On November 5, 2024, Nathan Hochman defeated Gascón in the general election with 59.9 percent of the vote and became district attorney on Dec. 3, 2024.
Hochman denied a new trial during a Feb. 21 press conference and filed a motion in March to withdraw Gascón’s recommendation that the Menendez brothers’ prison sentence be shortened. Hochman said he believes the brothers have not exhibited “full insight and complete responsibility” for their crimes.
Because the brothers committed the crimes before they were 26 years old, they would be immediately eligible for release under California law if Jesic honors Gascón’s recommendation to change the brothers’ sentence to 50 years to life.
Erik and Lyle were 18 and 21 years old, respectively, at the time of the murders.
A 60-page statement of facts detailing the crime was included with Hochman’s March 10 filing. Hochman explained at a press conference that his position is partly based on the brothers’ alleged failure to provide a consistent and clear motive.
In 1996, the Menendez brothers were convicted of first-degree murder in the 1989 Beverly Hills deaths of their parents, Mary “Kitty” Menendez and Jose Menendez, who was an entertainment executive in the 1980s.
There were more than a dozen shotgun blasts that occurred the night of the murders, including through the back of Jose Menendez’s head, according to Hochman.
Although 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 for seven days during his second trial, saying he had encountered sexual abuse by his father between the ages of six and 18. He also recalled the sexual abuse that his brother Lyle had experienced by his father between the ages of six and eight.
