Los Angeles DA to seek resentencing for Menendez brothers in 1989 murders of their parents

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said Thursday he will seek resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez in their parents' murders, paving the way for their potential release from prison after decades.

He said he would file paperwork Friday that recommends that life without the possibility of parole be removed in the brothers' case and that the brothers are resentenced for murder. A Superior Court judge will make the ultimate decision.

Beyond Friday's filing, no timeline or court hearings have been set.

Gascón said that because the men were younger than 26 when they killed their parents, they would be eligible for parole immediately if a judge follows his resentencing recommendation.

The DA's recommendation for resentencing was not universally backed, he said.

“There are people in the office that strongly believe that the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their life, and they do not believe that they were molested,” Gascón said.

“And there are people in the office that strongly believe that they should be released immediately and that there were in fact molested.”

He added, “I believe that they have paid their debt to society.”

Joseph “Lyle” Menendez and Erik Menendez fatally shot their parents, entertainment company executive José Menendez and Kitty Menendez, with shotguns in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers were 21 and 18 years old at the time.

Defense attorneys for the brothers argued they were sexually abused by their father, and, after two trials, they were convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole.

The DA's announcement comes three weeks after Gascón said his office was reviewing the case and would consider whether they should be resentenced.

The evidence provided to Gascón’s office included a photocopy of a letter from one of the brothers to another family member that alleged sexual abuse, Gascón said.

Defense attorneys also provided evidence that one of the members of the Menudo boy band alleged he was sexually abused by José Menendez, Gascón said.

Lyle and Erik Menendez alleged sexual abuse by their father at their first trial. That trial resulted in a mistrial after the juries deadlocked.

At the brothers’ second trial, the abuse allegations were limited in court. The brothers were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Lyle Menendez is now 56, and Erik Menendez is 53.

They filed petitions on both habeas grounds and seeking a resentencing. A habeas petition argues that if certain evidence had been presented at trial, the outcome might have been different.

California law also allows a prosecutor to evaluate whether a person has been rehabilitated and then ask a court to determine whether the person should be resentenced, Gascón said.

Prosecutors had accused the brothers of killing their parents to inherit a fortune.

Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s sister, said that she struggled to come to terms with the slayings but that as more and more information came to light about the brothers’ allegations of abuse at the hands of their father, their actions were a “desperate response” of two boys trying to survive his cruelty.

“They were just children. Children who could have been protected and were instead brutalized in the most horrific ways,” she said. “Lyle and Eric have already paid a heavy price. ... They have grown, they have changed, and they have become better men despite everything that they’ve been through. It’s time to give them the opportunity to live the rest of their lives free from the shadow of their past.” (Source: NBC News)