Erik Menendez Has a 'Serious Medical Condition' — and Should Be Sprung from Jail Immediately: Lawyer
An attorney for the Menendez brothers, who were convicted in the infamous 1989 murders of their parents, says Erik is suffering from a "serious" medical condition and should be released from prison immediately.
In an interview with TMZ's Harvey Levin published on Tuesday, July 22, attorney Mark Geragos did not specify Erik's condition but noted he is getting treatment behind bars at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, Calif. It's unclear if Erik's condition is life-threatening.
The news comes ahead of a parole board hearing for Erik, 54, and his brother, Lyle, 57, on Aug. 21 and Aug. 22. The brothers were resentenced to 50 years to life in prison on May 13, making them eligible for parole.
The siblings were previously sentenced to life in prison without parole for fatally shooting their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, inside the den of their Beverly Hills home on Aug. 20, 1989.
VINCE BUCCI/AFP/Getty Erik and Lyle Menendez in 1992.
Erik, then 18, and Lyle, then 21, claimed that the murders came after their father — the chief operating officer of RCA Records — sexually abused them for years and their mother, a former pageant queen, ignored the abuse. They have maintained that they feared for their lives and that Jose had threatened to kill them if they told anyone about the sexual abuse.
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Meanwhile, prosecutors said the two brothers' motive was greed and cited their lavish spending spree after the slayings.
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom could potentially seek to grant the brothers clemency and make his decision at any time, though he has said he will wait until after their final parole beard hearing to decide.
Newsom previously requested the parole board conduct a comprehensive risk assessment investigation into whether the brothers could pose a risk to public safety should they be released.
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After he resentenced the brothers, Judge Michael Jesic said he'd given the matter "long thought," acknowledging they committed an "absolutely horrific crime, and there's no way around it." But he said he was moved by the brothers' behavior behind bars.
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"Life without parole gives an inmate no hope, no reason to do anything good. And I give them a lot of credit. It's remarkable what they did when they had no hope of getting out," Jesic said.
The Menendez brothers made a virtual video appearance at the hearing and took 'full responsibility' for the murders, Fox News reported.
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