Judge sets January hearing for possible resentencing of Menendez brothers

A Los Angeles judge has moved a hearing date to late January to consider whether to resentence the Menendez brothers, who were convicted of murder in the early 1990s for fatally shooting their parents at their Beverly Hills home.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic set a hearing for Jan. 30-31, saying that the previous date — scheduled in mid-December — did not allow enough time for him to review 17 boxes filled with information about the case.

Jesic also said he postponed the hearing "out of respect for the new administration," noting that a new district attorney — Nathan Hochman — had been elected. The judge said he wanted to give Hochman a chance to "weigh in."

Eric and Lyle Menendez listened to the hearing from prison. They are currently being held at the Richard J. Donovan Detention Facility in San Diego County.

The only time they spoke was when one of them said "yes" to the question, "Can you hear us?"

Family members of the brothers were given an opportunity to speak in court Monday. Some relatives of the murdered parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, have been vocal about the case, saying they believe the brothers testimony decades ago that they were abused by their father, and the time has come for them to be released.

"I think it's time for them to go home," said Terecita Menendez, older sister of Jose Menendez, said through tears.

Joan Vandermolen, the older sister of Kitty Menendez, has spoken publicly in support of the brothers previously. She spoke again Monday in the courtroom.

"No child should have to go through what Eric and Lyle went through," Vandermolen said. She acknowledged that her own brother opposes the brothers' release.

The judge’s decision comes a week before Hochman is sworn in as the new Los Angeles County district attorney. It is unclear whether he’ll support the resentencing and release of the brothers as current D.A. George Gascón has done.

Hochman has said he wants to review the case before making any decision. He is a more traditional prosecutor than Gascón, a progressive who has supported the resentencing of more than 300 state prison inmates.

Last month, Gascón said he believes new evidence shows the brothers were sexually abused by their father. The brothers had been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but Gascón now recommends they be resentenced to 50 years to life in prison — 25 years for each murder.

That would make them immediately eligible for parole.

Gascón supports their release.

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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"I believe that they have paid their debt to society," Gascón said. "And the system provides a vehicle for their case to be reviewed by a parole board, and if parole concurs with my assessment — it will be their decision — they will be released accordingly."

Gascón made his decision after new evidence of sexual abuse of the brothers by their father surfaced in the case. Some of that came to light in a Peacock documentary from 2023.

In it, Roy Rosselló, a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo made his own allegation that Jose Menendez sexually molested him as a minor. Jose Menendez signed Menudo to RCA Records when he was an executive at the company.

In addition, the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, has submitted to the court a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin decades ago documenting the abuse at the time it occurred.

All along the brothers have said they committed the killings because of their father's sexual abuse of them and a fear that he was going to kill them.

Geragos said the January hearing will provide a chance to present reasons why the brothers should be resentenced.

“We’re hoping that by the end of that [hearing] or sometime sooner we will in fact get the brothers released,” he said.

After they were arrested, the brothers never denied committing the killings, in which they repeatedly fired shotguns at their parents as the couple watched television the night of Aug. 20, 1989.

They said their mother knew about the molestation and that hers was a “mercy” killing. Their claims were met with widespread skepticism.

Prosecutors at the time said the brothers were motivated by greed because they stood to inherit their father’s multi-million dollar estate.

Erik Menendez was 18 at the time of the murders. Lyle Menendez was 21. They are now 53 and 56, respectively.