The resentencing hearing for the Menendez brothers has been set for December 11th.
At the resentencing, a judge will decide whether the brothers will have a shot at freedom following 34 years behind bars.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, aged 21 and 18, respectively, shot and killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion back in 1989.
Following prosecutors’ proposal for the brothers’ resentencing last week, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic set the date on Wednesday.
Following a first mistrial in which both brothers’ juries returned hung verdicts, they were found guilty of the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, and given life sentences without the possibility of release.
The brothers’ attorneys maintained that they killed their parents in self-defence following years of emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, but they never denied that the brothers killed their parents.
Their second trial did not include a lot of abuse-related evidence.
Last Thursday, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon recommended that the two be resentenced, substituting their life sentence with a 50-year-to-life term.
According to Mr. Gascon, since the brothers were younger than 26 at the time of the killings, they would be immediately eligible for parole.
“Under the law, resentencing is appropriate. I’m going to recommend that to a court tomorrow,” the district attorney told a news conference.
“I believe they have paid their debt to society.”
Prosecutors must now request court approval for the case, with the judge making the final decision.
Their attorneys contend that the brothers might not have been found guilty of first-degree murder and given a life sentence without the possibility of parole if the case had been tried today due to the shifting social perceptions around sexual abuse.
The recommendation came following bombshell evidence in the form of a letter had been publically shared by a District Attorney.
Last week, a screenshot of Erik Menendez’s letter to his cousin Andy Cano, in which he makes references to severe and ongoing abuse at the hands of his father Jose, was made public on Instagram by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón.
It reads: “I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening Andy but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it. He’s so overweight that I just can’t stand to see him. I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy.”
George Gascón later deleted the post.
The letter, published in full by Fox News, further reads: “Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I’m afraid. You just don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy!”
“He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone. Especially Lyle. Am I a serious whimpus? I don’t know I’ll make it through this. I can handle it, Andy. I need to stop thinking about it.”
According to defence lawyer Cliff Gardner, the letter was written in December 1988, to the brother’s cousin some months before Kitty and Jose were killed.
According to testimony from Andy Cano, who passed away in 2003, Erik told him about his father’s abuse when he was thirteen.
The letter, which his mother discovered nine years ago, was part of a 2023 petition to investigate if the brothers’ imprisonment was illegal.
A “new coalition” known as Justice for Erik and Lyle has been formed by several extended family members who have banded together to demand the brothers’ release.
Jose’s niece Anamaria Baralt spoke upon the announcement of the recommendation on Thursday, saying: “Today is a day filled with hope for our family.”
“This step gives us all hope that the truth will finally be heard and Lyle and Erik can begin to heal from the trauma of their past.”
Another relative, believed to be a niece of Kitty, added: “This decision is not just a legal matter, it is a recognition of the abuse my cousins endured.”
“We are grateful to the district attorney for putting justice over politics. We know this wasn’t an easy decision but it is the right one.”
“It is time for Lyle and Erik to come home.”
Erik Menéndez’s daughter Talia has been vocally advocating for her father’s release and sharing case updates on her Instagram account.
She expressed her hope that the decision-makers will show compassion for the boys’ circumstances and emphasised the additional evidence that backs up their allegations of abuse in recent posts.
In a statement for Instagram, Talia wrote: “Within 60 days, we will hear back from the LA County District Attorney’s office regarding their decision for Erik and Lyle’s appeal for freedom filed in May last year.”
“As everyone knows, there was new evidence proving the abuse endured after decades of not being believed, and that evidence had been excluded from the retrial.”
“I’m praying the DA/Judge has compassion not only for what my dad and uncle endured but also for the fact that all of our family wants them home.”
“Almost 35 years is enough time locked away; They have spent more time incarcerated than alive in the real world. Let that sink in. Set them free.”
Explaining the possible outcomes from the appeal, Talia wrote: “Option 1) Time serves & they would prepare for release.”
“Option 2) 3-5 years more. Option 3) Immediately goes to the parole board > not a great option & case will become political.”
“Option 4) No change. LWOP sentence still stands. Praying they get time served for 35 years and are released!”
Their case recently garnered renewed interest, as Netflix released a true-crime series, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, based on the brothers last month.
Prison reform advocate Kim Kardashian also recently visited them in prison, and has since urged prosecutors in the US to reconsider their life sentences.
In an op-ed for NBC News, the reality star insisted the brothers are not “monsters.”
In the new documentary, director Alejandro Hartmann pours over decades of material surrounding the crime and the subsequent trial.
What emerges may not answer the many questions that still surround the case, but it does offer another perspective — that of the brothers themselves, provided in all-new audio interviews.
Erik and Lyle Menendez were both interviewed for the film, which also features new interviews with their cousin Diane Vander Molen and prosecutor Pamela Bozanich.
The Menendez Brothers is now streaming on Netflix.
Ryan Murphy’s true-crime drama series about the brothers, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, is also streaming on Netflix.