Menendez brothers' resentencing case can move forward, judge rules

A Los Angeles County judge on Friday cleared the way for a hearing later this month when he is expected to consider resentencing the Menendez brothers, possibly allowing for their release from prison.

The judge denied a request from District Attorney Nathan Hochman to withdraw a motion by his predecessor, George Gascón, who supported the idea of resentencing the brothers to a term that would make them eligible for parole. Hochman said last month that he did not believe the brothers had proper insight into their crimes — fatally shooting their parents in their Beverly Hills home in August 1989.

The resentencing hearing is now set for April 17.

On Friday, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he was not making any determination as to whether Hochman's effort had been politically motivated, as alleged by attorneys for Erik and Lyle Menendez and some of their family members. The judge said the law limits when a district attorney can pull a petition filed by a previous district attorney.

The brothers attended the hearing via video from Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County. They could be seen on a flat screen inside the courtroom in their prison blue uniforms, occasionally chatting with each other during the proceedings.

After the hearing, Mark Geragos commented on the victory for his clients.

"Today was actually probably the biggest day since they've been in custody," Geragos said. "Justice won over politics."

How we got here

Under California law, a person may be eligible for resentencing if it’s in the “interest of justice.” A hearing can be requested by a district attorney, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, parole board, or a judge.

At a resentencing hearing, there’s a presumption that the person is eligible for a shorter prison term than the one he or she initially received unless it can be shown the person remains a danger to society.

Hochman announced in March that he did not support resentencing the Menendez brothers because he believed they had not fully accepted responsibility for killing their parents more than three decades ago. The district attorney said his office had reviewed thousands of pages of documents and transcripts from the well-known Menendez case, and consulted with members of the family.

When he made the announcement, Hochman spoke at length about the brothers' actions before and after the Aug. 20, 1989, killings, listing a series of "lies" they told before they were arrested and afterward.

For example, Hochman said, the brothers initially told investigators that their parents were likely the victims of a mafia hit. Then later, when their involvement in the shootings was clear, they said they killed their parents in self defense.

Hochman filed a petition with the court, asking to withdraw Gascón's request.

Geragos, the brothers' attorney, argued Friday that prosecutors hadn’t presented a “true picture” of the brothers and that there was no legitimate reason to withdraw Gascón’s motion for resentencing.

Arguments in court

During the Friday hearing, prosecutors argued the Menendez brothers had failed to take full responsibility for their crimes because they continued to claim they killed their parents in self defense. They were convicted of first-degree, premeditated murder.

“Is it prudent to let someone out of prison when they’re still telling the same lies?” said Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian in the courtroom. He said the brothers were still trying to “minimize” their crimes.

Balian acknowledged the brothers had expressed regret, then asked: “Do they understand the depravity of what they did?” He posed the question of whether the brothers had changed during their time in custody, then offered his own answer: They had not.

"Today, they are still hunkered down in their lies,” Balian said. As recently as last year, he said, Erik Menendez claimed the killing was manslaughter, not murder.

The brothers, who were tried twice in the 1990s in connection with the killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez, have long said they were molested for years by their father, and that was a key driver for the shootings. They said they believed their parents were going to kill them to keep them quiet about the abuse.

Prosecutors have acknowledged that sexual abuse was a factor in the case. They argued in both trials, however, that the murders were motivated by greed because the brothers stood to inherit millions from their wealthy parents.

At one point during the Friday hearing, Balian played excerpts from the first trial and showed crime scene photos of the parents' bodies.

“It was like the Old West — a shootout at the O.K. Corral,” he said.

The move rankled Geragos.

“I think it’s outrageous that photos from the crime scene were flashed up on the screen, knowing family members are in the courtroom,” Geragos said.

Balian apologized.

Resentencing hearing on track

Ultimately it’s up to the judge to determine whether the brothers will be resentenced and possibly released. They have been in prison for more than 30 years. Both are now in their mid-50s.

As many as 30 relatives of the Menendez brothers have said they support releasing them, and the family members have been vocal about their disappointment in Hochman’s decision to oppose resentencing. They argued in court filings that Hochman was motivated more by political self-interest rather than legal reasoning.

"The court made clear that this process isn't about politics. Its about truth. Its about justice. And its about giving people the chance to show who they are now, not just who they were in their worse moment," said Anamaria Baralt, niece of Jose and Kitty Menendez, outside the Van Nuys courthouse Friday.

Baralt added: "They've apologized to us repeatedly over the years and have exemplified growth and healing."

Lyle Menendez (second from left) and his brother, Erik are flanked by their attorneys Gerald Chaleff (left) and Robert Shapiro, in Beverly Hills Municipal Court in 1990.

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Nick Ut

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AP

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But in the courtroom, Balian said it was the former district attorney's actions, not Hochman's, that were driven by politics.

The prosecutor said Gascón filed his motion two weeks before the November election and as the Menendez case gained new attention from a documentary and drama on Netflix. He also said Gascón’s motion left out important details of the brothers’ lies, he said.

Gascón lost to Hochman in the election.