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The res court of Lyle and Eric Menendez, part of the process that could ultimately lead to the brothers’ release from prison, will proceed Thursday before Judge Van Nuis. LA County prosecutors oppose resting, claiming that the brothers killed Jose and Kitty Menendez on their multi-million dollar inheritance. The hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m. in California and will continue until Friday.
The response hearing to Eric and Lyle Menendez will move forward on Thursday when lawyers claim they spent plenty of time in prison for the 1989 shotgun murder of their parents at their family’s Beverly Hills Mansion.
The much-anticipated rescheduling hearing in Vanneis comes after a controversial court case last week, when Los Angeles County prosecutors actively discussed responsibilities against a brother who has served life sentences without parole after two murder trials 30 years ago. Despite allegations from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the judge decided to proceed with the resting process despite allegations that the brothers killed Jose and Kitty Menendez with their multi-million dollar inheritance, and that they were not lying during trial and were not fully lied for the crime.
The defense attorneys allege that the brothers acted in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father.
Eric (54) and 57-year-old Lyle, ages 18 and 21, respectively, were 18 and 21 when they were sentenced to crimes that ordered public attention, which was renewed in the fall of 2024 with the release of the Netflix drama Monster: The Story of Lyle and Eric Menendez and the documentary Brothers Menendez, respectively.
The 16 tickets will be offered a lottery style seating in court on Thursday. There, minutes on the brothers’ suitability for resting will begin at 9:30am in California before Judge Michael Jessick.
The path to a Thursday hearing that could last until Friday began in October when then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon asked a judge to change his brother’s sentence to 50 years without the possibility of parole. They committed the crime while under the age of 26, so they will soon be eligible for parole.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in an interview during his first 100 days of office that he would reconsider Menendez’s responsibilities to his brother if he fully embraced responsibility for his parents’ murder. Robert Kovacik is reporting an NBC4 News report on Monday, March 17th, 2025 at 7pm.
However, Gascon was defeated by Nathan Hochman in the November election. After asking for time to review the case, Hochman revealed that his office did not support resentment and retracted the demands of his predecessor.
At last week’s hearing, Associate District Attorney Habib Varian said the key issue of Gascon’s responsive petition was that he didn’t fully address rehabilitation and missed a key element of the original crime committed. He claimed they were “covered by bunkers of their deceit, lies, and deceitfulness.”
Varian said that when Menendez’s brothers learned they would be taken out of their will, the murder was motivated by greed.
During the hearing during the researk hearing, the District Attorney’s Office will revisit many of the discussions held at the hearing on Friday. The discussion of both resembles is also laid out in hundreds of pages of filing reviewed by JESIC.
“Menendez has not been fully rehabilitated yet,” Hochmann said this week in an interview with the NBCLA. “The Menendez brothers have been clean over the past 30 years and may have recognized the full range of criminals, and have chosen not to do so.”
The hearing is an opportunity to show the judge that the brothers are living a life in prison worthy of responsiveness, as outlined in California law. If the judge agrees, their judgment can be reduced to a penalty less than life, without the possibility of parole before the case is considered by the Parole Board.
It was not immediately clear when the decision would be announced.
“We look forward to seeing Eric and Lyle not only as a frozen version of them in an age of pain and fear, not today, but also frozen in the whole truth.
Attorney Mark Jelagos explained the prosecutor’s presentation last week. This included photos of a bloody crime scene that was the subject of family complaints as a “dog and pony show.” He called “nothing but political cover-up” as a result of Hochman defeating Gascón with the racial district attorney.
Geragos argued that the judge had full authority to proceed with responsiveness under California law passed in 2023. The law allows courts to reduce penalties based on a variety of factors, including the age of prisoners and their behavior during incarceration.
A Los Angeles judge determined that efforts could be made to Lyle and Eric Menendez resent and ultimately be released from prison.
If nothing changes after this week’s minutes, the brothers still have two paths to freedom.
They filed a generous plea to California Governor Gavin Newsom. Gavin Newsom ordered the state parole board to assess whether the brothers could pose public risks if released. The risk assessment process is a standard practice in the case of parole and is used to determine whether prisoners pose a threat if released to public safety.
The brothers also filed a habeas-protection petition in May 2023, urging them to allow a new trial in light of new evidence presented to the court. Hochman’s office also filed a motion against the petition.
In the court petition, the brother’s lawyer pointed to two new pieces of evidence that allegedly supported the brother’s allegations of long-term sexual abuse by his father. The evidence contained a suspicious letter
What Eric Menendez wrote to his cousin Andy Cano in early 1989 or late 1988, and the recent allegations by Roy Rossello, a former member of Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, also said that Jose Menendez was sexually abused as a teenager.
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