After a series of twists and turns, the Menendez brothers are set to face their resentencing hearing
After seven months of hearings, court filings and news conferences, Lyle and Erik Menendez face the possibility of freedom as a two-day resentencing hearing commences Tuesday, three decades after they were convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents.
The brothers are serving life without parole for the murders after two sensational trials captured the attention of Americans across the country. Last fall, former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommended resentencing for the brothers, but his successor, Nathan Hochman, has fought against it.
The high-stakes resentencing hearing is just one of several avenues the brothers are taking in their bid for freedom. Gascon had supported resentencing the brothers to life with the possibility of parole, which could make them immediately eligible to go before the state's parole board and potentially be freed.
The previous hearing in April was delayed after a judge requested access to 'comprehensive risk assessments' conducted by California's parole board, which speak to the risk of violence if they were released.
Family members have argued for the brothers' release, saying they've demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, and that the severity of the sentence should be revisited because of an evolving understanding of childhood sexual abuse. The brothers have maintained they carried out the murders in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.
Meanwhile, Hochman says that claim is 'fabricated' and the murders were premeditated. He has repeatedly told the brothers to admit they have 'lied to everyone for the past 30 years.'
Unlike a new trial, which would focus on the facts of the case, resentencing allows the judge to consider a variety of factors, including the brothers' rehabilitative efforts.
During the hearing over the next two days, attorneys for the brothers are expected to call upon past prosecutors, former inmates and corrections personnel to testify on their rehabilitation efforts. The brothers have founded a long list of prison programs, with Erik starting at least five, including a support group for disabled and elderly inmates. Lyle founded a massive beautification program, raising more the $250,000 to install greenery to help prison life to resemble the outside world.
Relatives are not expected to testify.
A judge denied Hochman's second motion to cancel the resentencing in a hearing last week, after he argued the new risk assessments supported keeping the men in prison.
'They determined that each of the Menendez brothers constituted a moderate risk of violence, which was higher than the prior determinations of low risk of violence,' he said after court.
Both brothers had committed cell phone violations while in prison, he said – Lyle in November 2024 and Erik in January 2025. But the judge ruled the information in these reports was not new or substantial enough to withdraw the motion for resentencing.
Defense attorneys also withdrew their motion to have Hochman's office recused from the case after they previously alleged a 'conflict of interest.' Mark Geragos, the brothers' attorney, said they withdrew for 'a strategic legal reason.'
The resentencing hearing is part of a three-prong effort by the brothers and their attorneys to have the case reconsidered.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has the power to commute the brothers' sentences, which would immediately free them – but he has so far refrained from doing so. The 'comprehensive risk assessments' the judge requested ahead of the resentencing hearing were commissioned by the state's Board of Parole after Newsom asked them to investigate whether the brothers would pose an 'unreasonable risk' to the public if released.
The parole board is expected to have a hearing June 13 and will share its recommendation with the governor.
Attorneys for the Menendez brothers are also pursuing a new trial, formally known as a habeas corpus petition. Attorneys claim to have new evidence against the brothers' father, including a 1988 letter from Erik Menendez to a relative referencing the alleged abuse.
CNN's Taylor Romine, Nick Watt and Elizabeth Wolfe reported and wrote from Los Angeles, and Zoe Sottile reported from New York. CNN's Matthew J. Friedman contributed to this report.
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