Menendez Brothers' Attorney Seeks Lesser Voluntary Manslaughter Sentence As Hearing Begins

Yahoo

13-05-2025

Relatives of Lyle and Erik Menendez testified Tuesday on why they believe the brothers should be released after serving almost three decades in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents.
The brothers watched the hearing at the Van Nuys Courthouse via video screen, per the AP. It is unclear if they will make a statement during the proceedings, expected to last for two days.
More from Deadline
SAG-AFTRA's 'Here's Looking At You L.A.' & Mayor Karen Bass Push For State & Federal Tax Incentives To Get Hollywood Working Again
Show Us The Money: When Can Productions Expect To Reap Benefits Of California's Proposed $750M Film & TV Tax Credit Expansion?
Menendez Brothers Suddenly Withdraw Move To Toss L.A. DA Off Case; Resentencing Hearings Set For Next Week
Their attorney, Mark Geragos, told reporters that he would seek a reduced sentence of voluntary manslaughter, something that would allow the brothers to be released without a parole board hearing.
'What we are pushing for, under the statute, is a recall of the sentence, a resentence that is meaningful modification,' he said, adding that he would seek time served for the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.
The 1989 shotgun murder of the brothers' parents by the siblings returned to the spotlight in part due to the success of the Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and some documentaries claiming new evidence. The Menendez brothers insist the shooting of José Menendez and Kitty Menendez was self-defense against the ongoing sexual abuse by their father, a record company executive.
The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to two consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole. A lesser sentence of murder would require a hearing before the parole board, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a comprehensive risk assessment report as part of his clemency consideration.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who opposes resentencing, told reporters that 'our position is not no, and not never. It's not yet.'
'The Menendez brothers have failed to come clean with the full extent of their criminal conduct, their cover up, their lies and their deceit in the past 30 years,' he said, calling their 'self-defense defense' a 'lie.'
Hochman cited risk assessments done by board certified psychologists for the Parole Board that cited Lyle and Erik Menendez's violations of the rules by bringing cell phones into the prison. That took place after they filed their resentencing motions, Hochman said.
'This shows that not withstanding those rehabilitative efforts, their risk level is no longer low. It is moderate. There is a moderate risk of violence, because if the Menendezes are released they are not going to be in highly structured setting like a prison. If they can't follow the rules in prison, then the confidence level of these psychologists have dropped on whether they will pose a risk of violence in society.'
But Geragos said that the issue before the court in the resentencing is whether there is a likelihood that the brothers 'will commit a super strike, what I call the seven deadly sins. There is zero likelihood, that's what the record reflects. No one has suggested that anywhere, anytime.'
Best of Deadline
TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far
Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2025
2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More