D.A. 'Keeping an Open Mind' About Menendez Brothers' Push for Release

Mar. 15, 2025

Erik Menendez in 2016 and Lyle Menendez in 2018.Photo:California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced at a press conference on Thursday, Oct. 3, that he is “keeping an open” mind aboutthe Menendez brothers’bid for release.

“I’m not leaning in any direction right now,” Gascón said. “We have people in the office that are looking at this very carefully, very experienced lawyers that are looking at this. Their recommendation will be presented to me, but the final decision will be mine.”

“We are reviewing the information, but I think it’s also important that we recognize that both men and women can be the victims of sexual assault,” he continued.

Gascón also told reporters that his office has “a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us” to decide if the brothers should be resentenced or if a new hearing of the case is “appropriate.” He added, “If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps a jury would have come to a different conclusion.”

Lyle and Erik Menendezwere convicted of the first-degree murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1996.

In May 2023, attorneys for the brothers, who are serving life sentences, filed ahabeas corpus petitionwith the Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing new evidence in the case.

Gascón said that deputy district attorneys in his office have different opinions about what should happen to the brothers.

Gascón said a hearing has been set for Nov. 26.

Asked if the case would have been handled differently today, Gascon said he was “not here to make judgment of that, but there is no question that today there would have been a greater level of sensitivity to the way the case was looked at.”

Jose, the head of RCA Records at the time of his murder, was shot multiple times. including point blank in the head. Kitty, 47, suffered 15 gunshot wounds, including one to the face.

However, prosecutors at the time said the two brothers’ motive was greed, citing the lavish spending spree — which involved expensive watches, cars and tennis lessons — they went on after the slayings.

Erik Menendez with his attorney Leslie Abramson and his brother Lyle Menendez during the trial of the Menendez brothers in Los Angeles on March 9, 1994.Ted Soqui/Sygma/Getty

Ted Soqui/Sygma/Getty

In 1996, three years after their first trial ended in a deadlock, the siblings were convicted of the first-degree murders and subsequently sentenced.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’sfree True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Mark Geragos, the Menendez brothers' post-conviction attorney, said the brothers, who have spent over three decades in prison and are now both in Donovan State Correctional Facility, are “cautiously optimistic” the petition will be successful, he said.

source: people.com