Menendez Brothers Resentencing Hearing Set for December: What Happens Next?

Mar. 15, 2025

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

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/AP

A resentencing hearing for theMenendez brothers, both serving life in prison for the shotgun murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez, has been set for two weeks before Christmas.

From Left: George Gascón; and Gavin Newsom.Apu Gomes/Getty; Jason Armond/Getty

Apu Gomes/Getty; Jason Armond/Getty

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Based on their age at the time of the 1989 killings — Erik was 18 and Lyle 21 — the two would qualify as “youthful offenders” and be eligible for parole.

“We’re very sure, not only that the brothers have rehabilitated and that they will be safe to be reintegrated in our society, but that they have paid their dues,” Gascón said on Oct. 23, adding that in prison they had worked to “improve the lives of so many others.”

George Gascón (right) shakes hands with Diane Hernandez (niece of Kitty Menendez) on Oct. 24, 2024.Apu Gomes/Getty

Apu Gomes/Getty

If a judge rules in favor of Gascón’s recommendation, the case would then go to the California Parole Board for a hearing to decide if they will be granted parole,CBS affiliate KFMBreported. Per the station, it could take as long as six months to schedule that hearing before the board.

According to theAP, California Gov. Gavin Newsom would then have another 150 days to examine the parole board’s decision before making the final ruling.

Newsom previously rejected four parole recommendations for Manson follower Leslie Van Houten, who took part in the killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their L.A. home in 1969, before agreeing to not contest an appellate court ruling, according toCBS News.

A hearing in the habeas corpus proceeding is scheduled for Nov. 26, PEOPLE has learned.

From Left: Erik and Lyle Menendez on trial in 1994.Ted Soqui/Getty

Ted Soqui/Getty

Additionally, on Oct. 28, the defense team for Erik and Lyle submitted a request for clemency to Newsom for the Menendez brothers. In a press release sent to PEOPLE on Oct. 30, Gascón said he “strongly” supports their bid for clemency.

“They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates,” he said, per the release, calling for “the immediate release of the Menendez brothers.”

In a previous interview with PEOPLE,  Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of Lyle and Erik,describedlife without the brothers at home as “very hard.” She said, “There’s just a hole in your heart that never quite gets filled."

Baralt added, “Every holiday, there’s a bitter sweetness to it. Even though we have the family together, the families that are outside of prison, we never forget that Lyle and Erik aren’t with us. We’re all just really looking forward to that day of being together again.”

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source: people.com