SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Governor Gavin Newsom stated that he will not grant mercy in the murder convictions of Erik and Kyle Menendez until the case, which has been pending for almost 35 years, is reviewed by newly elected Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Prosecutors recommended in October that the brothers be resentenced for the 1989 murder conviction in which they killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home. The current district attorney, George Gasc, requested that a judge impose a new sentence of 50 years to life, which would immediately qualify them for parole.
The governor promised to allow the next district attorney time to examine the matter after Gasc, who was backed by Newsom, lost reelection this month.
In a statement released Monday, the governor’s office stated that it respects the district attorney’s role in ensuring justice is served and acknowledges that voters have trusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to fulfill this duty. Before deciding whether to grant mercy, the governor will wait for the DA-elect to study and analyze the Menendez case.
Hochmantold He couldn’t comment on the resentencing recommendation until he had time to examine the brothers’ private records, the Associated Press reported last week.
In 1996, the two were first given a life sentence without the chance of release.
Erik Menendez, who was 18 at the time, and Lyle Menendez, who was 21, acknowledged that they had shot and killed their mother, Kitty Menendez, and their father, Jose Menendez, an entertainment tycoon.
For the murders of their parents, they were tried twice; the first trial ended in a hung jury. The brothers said that they were afraid their parents would murder them in order to keep the father’s long history of sexually abusing Erik Menendez a secret. Prosecutors claimed that no such abuse took place and that they killed their parents for financial gain.
The extended family of the boys has begged for their release. According to a number of family members, the brothers would not have been found guilty of first-degree murder and given a life sentence without the possibility of parole in a society more conscious of the effects of sexual abuse today.
In May 2023, their lawyer initially submitted a request for a reexamination of their case.
The Associated Press, 2024. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. It is prohibited to publish, broadcast, rewrite, or redistribute this content without authorization.
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