Prosecutors are seeking a resentencing for brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, whose conviction for killing their parents came after one of the most lurid trials of the 1990s, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced Oct. 24.
Gascón will file a recommendation that the brothers should be resentenced for murder Oct. 25, which would remove the sentence of life without the possibility or parole. The final decision on their resentencing is up to a superior court judge.
Because Erik and Lyle Menendez were younger than 26 at the time of the crime, they would be eligible for parole immediately if a judge follows his recommendation.
The prosecutor’s review, which comes after pleading for the brothers to be released, opens the door for the chance that the brothers could be freed from prison.
The latest development follows the brothers being the subject of the hit ,” which has brought renewed spotlight to their story.
The siblings’ quest to have their convictions vacated is also gaining momentum, with entertainment and Rosie O’Donnell and television mogul Ryan Murphy advocating for their release from prison or speculating that it will happen in the coming months.
Here’s what to know about the latest update in the case.
Will the Menendez brothers have their sentences reduced?
Lyle Menendez, 56, and Erik Menendez, 53, both have been serving life sentences without parole since being convicted in 1996. The two were convicted for the 1989 and in the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.
Gascón announced on Oct. 3 that his office would review what he said is new evidence alleging the brothers were sexually abused by their father. At a press conference, Gascón said prosecutors have the discretion to determine whether inmates could be resentenced after examining new evidence in their cases.
He added that incarcerated people could potentially “walk out based on what the court decides,” suggesting the possibility exists that the Menendez brothers could go free upon review of their case.
“I’m keeping an open mind,” he said. “We have people in the office that are looking at this very carefully, very experienced lawyers that are looking at this.”
“Until we get there, we’re not sure yet which direction this will go,” Gascón said.
Gascón was asked by NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz on TODAY Oct. 17 whether the brothers should have to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
“I don’t,” he said. “I think there is a certain level of evidence that points out that there were a lot of problems in the household.”
Gascón said his office was still reviewing evidence but showed support for reexamining their sentences.
“If in fact, after 35 years of good behavior, they’re ready to be reintegrated in society, then I think that that would be appropriate. But again, we haven’t decided,” he said at the time.
Gascón originally told Kreutz that he hopes to make a decision about the case by Oct. 27.
On Oct. 25, Gascón said that while his office did not reach “universal agreement,” he “came to a place where I believe that, under the law, resentencing is appropriate and I am going to recommend that to a court tomorrow.”
If a judge approves the resentencing recommendation, the district attorney’s office said , “it’s not possible for our office to speculate” on when the brothers could be released.
“If and when the judge resentences the brothers or grants the defense’s habeas petition, the judge would decide when and if they would be released,” the news release states.
What is the new evidence prosecutors were reviewing?
A copy of a letter allegedly sent by Erik Menendez in 1988 and an affidavit from a former member of the 1980s boy band Menudo accusing of rape were among the potential new pieces of evidence, according to Gascón.
The former member of Menudo, Roy Rosselló, also alleged in the “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that he was molested by Jose Menendez when Menendez was the head of RCA Records.
In their first trial in 1993, the brothers said they killed their parents because their father had been sexually abusing them for years. Prosecutors countered that they shot their parents to death so they could inherit their substantial fortune.
After the televised proceedings ended in a mistrial due to deadlocked juries, the two were convicted at a second trial.
The brothers have continued to insist they were sexually abused by their father. They included possible evidence in a writ of habeas corpus they filed from prison last year asking the court to vacate their conviction, according to Gascón.
Why is the Menendez brothers’ case receiving so much attention now?
The case has returned to the headlines following the release of the scripted show “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” on Netflix.
Gascón said at the Oct. 3 press conference that the decision to look at new evidence in the case was not related to the Netflix show, according to the .
Actor Cooper Koch, who portrays Erik Menendez on the show, on Sept. 26 that he was able to meet the Menendez brothers in person along with other inmates at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility outside of San Diego. The meeting was set up by Kim Kardashian.
“I got to basically just tell him that I believe him, and I did everything that I could in my power as an actor to portray him as accurately and as authentically as possible,” Koch said about Erik Menendez.
However, the Menendez family has and a “serial episodic nightmare” in its depiction of the brothers. Erik Menendez’s wife .”
In an interview with People, “Monsters” by calling the family’s response “faux outrage” and said the show is “the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years” because it brought a renewed spotlight to their case.
Murphy has also become a surprising advocate for the brothers’ release.
“We gave them their moment in the court of public opinion. Basically, we did give them a platform,” Murphy told on Oct. 3. “I think they can be out of prison by Christmas. I really believe that.”
Kardashian has also become a force pushing for them to be freed. The reality star and fashion mogul, who in recent years has become an advocate for criminal justice reform, wrote an on Oct. 3 saying it’s time for the Menendez brothers to be released.
“I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters. They are kind, intelligent, and honest men,” she wrote.
Kardashian also noted that at the time of the trials in the 1990s the view of victims of sexual abuse, particularly boys, was often “clouded by preconceived judgments and homophobia,” and support systems and resources for survivors were sparse.
While Kardashian wrote that the killings are “not excusable,” she doesn’t believe that “spending their entire natural lives incarcerated was the right punishment for this complex case.”
Nearly two dozen of the brothers’ in Los Angeles on Oct. 16 to plead for their release from prison.
Speaking in front of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, the brothers’ aunt, Joan Anderson VanderMolen, 92, advocated for their convictions to be dropped.
“Lyle and Erik were failed by the very people who should’ve protected them,” she said. “By their parents, by the system, by society at large.”
What’s next in the case?
Gascón said he would file the paperwork recommending the Menendez brothers’ resentencing on Friday, Oct. 26. The final decision is up to a superior court judge.
No timeline or court hearings have been been set beyond the filing.
Speaking to NBC News Oct. 16, Gascón said there is a possibility the brothers could walk free by the end of the year, which at the time depended on whether he recommends resentencing and how the court rules.
“It will be up to the court to decide which way they want to go, but it’s possible they could be,” Gascón said.
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