Latest news with #MichaelJesic
ABC News
14-05-2025
- ABC News
Menendez brothers now eligible for parole
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduced the brothers' sentences for murdering their parents in 1989 from life without parole to 50 years to life.
New York Times
09-05-2025
- New York Times
Menendez Brothers' Resentencing Hearing Is Set for Next Week
After resolving the latest round of legal hurdles, a Los Angeles judge has scheduled a hearing for next week to decide whether Lyle and Erik Menendez should be eligible for release after more than three of decades behind bars. The long-awaited resentencing hearing, which had first been scheduled for December and then was repeatedly postponed will now take place over two days, on May 13 and 14, the judge, Michael V. Jesic of Los Angeles Superior Court, said on Friday. Once again, family members of the brothers were arranging to travel to Los Angeles for the proceedings. Others, including people who were imprisoned with them and correctional officials who have overseen their incarceration, were planning to be there, too, to testify that the brothers have been rehabilitated and no longer represent a danger to the community. The Menendez brothers have behind bars since the spring of 1990, when they were arrested and charged with killing their parents the previous summer. The brothers had burst in to the den of the family home in Beverly Hills, Calif., and killed their parents with shotgun blasts as the couple watched television and ate ice cream. The crime, and the fact that it occurred in such a wealthy, exclusive community, captivated the country. And the case never fully ceded its grip on the nation's consciousness, maintained through numerous dramatic and documentary treatments. At their trials, the brothers had maintained that they had been sexually abused for years by their father, Jose Menendez, and that their mother, Kitty Menendez, was complicit because she knew of the abuse and did nothing to stop it. They said they killed out of fear for their own lives, worried that their parents would kill them first to prevent disclosure of the family's secrets. At their first trial, the brothers were tried together but with separate juries. The judge gave wide latitude to the defense to offer testimony and evidence about sexual abuse, and the trial was televised to a national audience. Each jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. In the years following their convictions, the brothers seemingly exhausted every legal avenue to have their cases reviewed. And then last fall, after two new shows appeared on Netflix — a dramatic series by the producer Ryan Murphy and a documentary — new legal possibilities emerged. At the same time, social media campaigns on the brothers' behalf, organized by young people who believe the sexual abuse evidence should have been a mitigating factor at trial, put pressure on officials to reconsider the case. Last fall, George Gascón, then the district attorney of Los Angeles, asked a court to resentence the brothers to 50 years to life with the possibility of parole. Because the brothers were younger than 25 at the time of the crime, the sentence sought by Mr. Gascón would have made them immediately eligible for parole. Then, Mr. Gascón was defeated in November's election by Nathan Hochman, whose campaign urged a more punitive approach to prosecuting crime. Mr. Hochman had a very different view of the Menendez brothers, and he has opposed resentencing them, saying they had failed to demonstrate 'full insight' into their crimes. Specifically, he said Lyle, now 57, and Erik, now 54, had never disavowed their contention that they had acted in self-defense, which Mr. Hochman has called a lie. Mr. Hochman tried to withdraw Mr. Gascon's resentencing petition, but Judge Jesic rejected his request. On Friday, Mr. Hochman once again asked the court to allow his office to withdraw the petition based on new information from a recently completed report by the state's parole board about the brothers' time in prison. That report was put together on behalf of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is separately considering clemency for the brothers. Speaking in court, Mr. Hochman said the report cited rules violations by the brothers, including their use of cellphones. Judge Jesic, however, said the report, which remains under seal, did not include much new information, and he denied Mr. Hochman's motion to withdraw the petition. Given Mr. Hochman's stance, the proceedings have become increasingly adversarial, and the brothers' lawyers briefly sought to have the district attorney's office recused from the case. But one of the brothers' lawyers, Mark Geragos, withdrew the request on Friday in the interest of moving the proceedings along, he said.
Fox News
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Menendez brothers resentencing battle heats up as Los Angeles judge weighs risk
incoming update… The resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez was originally set to continue in April 2025 but was unexpectedly delayed due to unresolved legal disputes. The brothers' defense team sought to disqualify the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office from the case, citing alleged bias and a conflict of interest. The DA's office, led by Nathan Hochman, called the move a 'desperate argument.' "In the opposition, the District Attorney's Office has argued that in a 'drastic and desperate step,' the defense has decided to 'sidestep the central issue of resentencing' and present an argument 'devoid of merit' to recuse the entire District Attorney's Office," Hochman said. "The entire defense argument over recusal boils down to the defense not being happy with the current District Attorney's position on resentencing. While this desperate argument may work in a press interview, it fails in a court of law based on an adversarial system of justice." Erik and Lyle Menendez's state parole board risk assessment also remains central to the delayed hearing. California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the test to determine an inmate's potential risk to public safety if released. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said that the discussions over the admissibility of the state parole board's comprehensive risk assessments will be considered on Friday. Both issues caused the hearing to come to a screeching halt and begin proceedings for Friday, May 9. On the eve of a critical hearing that could reshape the future of killer brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez's legal journey, the family behind the Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition called for the recusal of the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. The family coalition has been vocal about what they describe as a pattern of overreach by the DA Nathan Hochman's office. 'The issue is not about what the [risk assessment] contains or how District Attorney Hochman chooses to characterize Erik and Lyle ,' the family wrote in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. 'We know who they are, how much they've grown, how remorseful they are… The issue is that the DA once again tried to box us in and put the cart before the horse.' Their frustrations came to a head last month, when Hochman held a press conference speaking publicly about a draft risk assessment (CRA) tied to the Menendez brothers. They likened the situation to 'walking into a job interview and finding out your therapy notes had already been shared with the employer.' The Menendez family coalition argued that the DA's office has exhibited a pattern of behavior to 'tilt the scales of justice.' One family member, however, objected to the resentencing and filed an amicus brief in opposition through his attorney, Kathleen Cady. More than three decades after Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents in a case that captivated the nation, the brothers are once again at the center. In 1989, the Menendez brothers shot and killed their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion. The prosecution painted the brothers as spoiled heirs. The defense, led by attorney Leslie Abramson, argued they acted out of desperation after enduring years of abuse at the hands of their father. Despite a highly publicized trial, which included two hung juries, they were ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The pair surged back into the spotlight when, in October 2024, Netflix released a true-crime documentary titled The Menendez Brothers, and in September 2024, the series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story reignited interest in the case. The series sparked renewed debates of alleged child abuse and the fairness of their initial trial. The timing came as former DA George Gascón opened the door for clemency. However, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, now led by Nathan Hochman, has opposed this effort, claiming the brothers still haven't accepted full responsibility for their actions. Live Coverage begins here
