Judge Rules Menendez Brothers' Resentencing Hearings Can Move Forward

The ruling by the judge, Michael Jesic, in a Los Angeles courtroom, advances Lyle and Erik Menendez on one front in their push for freedom after decades in prison for killing their parents. If the brothers are ultimately resentenced, they could almost immediately walk free. Separately, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, a Democrat, is weighing clemency for the brothers and has scheduled parole board hearings for Lyle and Erik Menendez on June 13. The ruling by Judge Jesic has no effect on the brothers’ bid for clemency. The Menendez brothers brutally murdered their parents inside the family’s home in Beverly Hills, Calif., more than 35 years ago.

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearings can continue despite opposition from the Los Angeles County district attorney, a judge ruled Friday. They 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 defense attorneys argued the brothers 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 Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic shot down the new district attorney’s bid to withdraw the resentencing request in a major victory for the pair, who were convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. “Everything you argued today is absolutely fair game for the resentencing hearing next Thursday,” Jesic said. At the hearing, District Attorney Nathan Hochman blasted his predecessor George Gascón’s formal petition to resentence the brothers, who were handed life in prison without the possibility of parole at ages 18 and 21 — calling the request an “insane” political ploy that ignored basic facts. The brothers’ attorney Mark Geragos, however, ripped the DA’s statement as nothing but a “dog and pony show” and condemned the prosecution for showing grizzly crime-scene photos without warning the family members watching from the gallery.