Menendez brothers seek parole after 30 years in prison for parents’ murder

Los Angeles (AP) – The Menendez brothers are about to make their conditional liberation cases from Thursday, marking the closest they have been to win the freedom of prison since their convictions almost 30 years ago murder their parents.

Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to life prison for having fatally pulled their father, Jose Menendez, and his mother, Kitty Menendez, In their Beverly Hills manor in 1989. They were 18 and 21 years old at the time. While the defense lawyers argued that the brothers had acted by self -defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, the prosecutors said that the brothers had killed their parents for a heritage of several million dollars.

The brothers became eligible for parole after a Los Angeles judge in May reduces their sentences From life to life without the possibility of parole at 50 years for life, which immediately makes them eligible for parole under Californian law because they were under 26 years of age when they committed their crimes.

A panel or two or three parole hearing agents of a council of commissioners appointed by the governor will assess the brothers individually. Erik Menendez will have her audience on Thursday morning, followed by Lyle Menendez on Friday, on the videoconference of the correctional establishment of Richard J. Donovan in San Diego.

The Council will evaluate if the brothers present an “unreasonable risk of danger to society” if it is released, by considering factors such as criminal history, motivation for crime and signs of remorse, behavior in prison and the plans for the future, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Even if the board of directors grants their parole, it could still be months before the brothers walk freely – if at all. If the board of directors grants the parole of each brother, the chief legal adviser has 120 days to examine the case. Then, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has 30 days to assert or refuse parole. It was not until the time if Newsom affirms the parole, could the Menendez brothers leave the prison.

Newsom had previously ordered the conditional state release card To carry out a risk assessment of the brothers in response to a request for leniency. At the time, he pointed out that the key question was whether the brothers pose an “unreasonable risk to public security”.

He noted at a May press conference that he had previously approved and rejected decisions by the Conditional Liberation Council and that he was “the ultimate referee”.

Brothers’ lawyer, Mark Geragos, asked for his release last month for Erik Menendez after being hospitalized for a “serious medical condition”. He has since returned to prison.

The case drew the attention of real lovers of crime for decades and generated documentaries, television specials and dramatizations. Netflix drama ” Monsters: the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez “And the documentary” The Menendez Brothers “, both released in 2024, were credited for drawing new attention to the brothers.

In the past year, the weighing of celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and a greater recognition of the brothers as victims of sexual abuse helped to raise a legion of supporters who called for their release. Some flew to Los Angeles in recent months, organizing gatherings and assistant to the court hearings while the brothers’ lawyers have pushed their resentment.

The former County Prosecutor, George Gascón, first opened the door to possible freedom For the brothers last fall by asking a judge to reduce their sorrows. Since their conviction, the brothers have obtained an education, have participated in self-assistance lessons and started various support groups For colleagues in prison, his office said in a petition.

The judge’s decision to finally summarize the brothers followed months of decline in the current prosecutors, who argued that the brothers had not taken sufficient responsibility for their crimes.

The Menendez brothers still have a petition awaiting habeas corpus filed in May 2023 to request an examination of their convictions Based on new evidence Support their pretensions of sexual abuse by their father. Last month, a different judge Los Angeles procuators To explain why their case should not be re -examined.

The State Corrections Department has selected a media representative to display the procedure practically and share notes with the rest of the press at defined intervals.