Menendez Brothers Given Chance of Parole With New Sentence (3)

Erik and Lyle Menendez were each given a lower sentence Tuesday for the 1989 murder of their parents, when a Los Angeles judge found they don’t pose an “unreasonable risk” of danger.

The brothers are now required to serve between 50 years and life in prison with the possibility of parole. Their prior sentence was life without the possibility of parole. According to their attorney Mark Geragos, they are immediately eligible for parole, leaving the decision on whether to release the brothers to the Parole Board and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). A Parole Board hearing is scheduled for June 13.

The order from California Superior Court, Los Angeles County Judge Michael Jesic followed a day of emotional testimony from three family members, a retired judge familiar with their work in prison, and a former inmate who credits their mentorship for his rehabilitation and release.

“As shocking as the crime was, I’m almost equally shocked as to the letters that came” from prison officials in the brothers’ support describing their leadership, Jesic said.

“I think it’s pretty amazing what they’ve done,” he said. “Something I’ve never seen before.”

The brothers said Tuesday via Zoom they’d continue advocating for survivors of sexual abuse and criminal justice reform if they are released.

“I am so sorry to each and every one of you,” Lyle said to his family. “I am grateful for your love and forgiveness. I lied to you and forced you into a spotlight of humiliation you never asked for.”

Unicorn Case

Jesic’s ruling came after a day of testimony focused on the brothers’ relationships and service while incarcerated.

The witnesses outlined Erik’s and Lyle’s plans if they are released: Lyle is drafting plans to expand the green space rehabilitation model he launched in prison, and Erik will grow a hospice care system to support the state’s aging prison population.

A former inmate named Anerae Brown said Tuesday afternoon, crying, that “minus the two of them” he wouldn’t be free and working in criminal justice advocacy today. The brothers, attending the hearing on Zoom, bowed their heads.

“I have children now,” Brown said.

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s family members also said they would feel completely safe if the brothers were released from prison, their cousins said Tuesday morning.

“I would welcome them into my home, with my children, immediately,” cousin Anamaria Baralt said.

Jesic called the case a “unicorn.” He said he can’t recall a time when the family of a murder victim supported the defendants during resentencing.

DA Office Flip-Flop

The new sentence aligns with that recommended by former L.A. DA George Gascón. The brothers’ attorneys argued new evidence showed Erik and Lyle were sexually abused by their father and they should be resentenced to square with new legal standards because of how young they were when they killed their parents.

“Like the legislature has done, we have evolved. This is not the 90s anymore,” Geragos said after the hearing, adding that the decision “encourages people who are incarcerated to make the right decisions, take the right path.”

The hearing followed months of delays as new Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman took office and switched stances on the case. Hochman unsuccessfully tried to withdraw Gascón’s resentencing recommendation, saying he wasn’t convinced the brothers were remorseful and they had continued to lie about the crime. Prosecutors pointed to a draft report in the brothers’ parallel clemency proceedings that said they posed a “moderate” risk.

Prosecutors’ cross-examination Tuesday morning focused on the Menendez brothers asking witnesses during their criminal trial to perjure themselves to support the brothers’ case.

They also asked the relatives to rate how safe they felt around the brothers before they killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home, during their trial, and now.

Baralt testified she had always felt safe around the brothers and would have said so even immediately prior to their parents’ deaths.

Baralt said she and all the brothers’ living family members want the trauma of this case to end.

“It has been a relentless, relentless examination of our family in the public eye,” Baralt said, crying. “It has been a torture for decades.”

The case is People v. Menendez, Cal. Super. Ct., Nos. BA068880-01 and BA068880-02, 5/13/25.