What to know about the offer of the freedom of the Menéndez brothers

By Jaimie Ding

Los Angeles (AP) – Los Angeles District Prosecutor says does not admit resentment De Lyle and Erik Menéndez, brothers who have spent more than 30 years in prison for killing his parents at his home in Beverly Hills in 1989.

Los Angeles County District Prosecutor, Nathan Hochman, said Monday that the brothers have lied repeatedly about why they killed their parents and “fell short” to assume all the responsibility of their crimes.

The brothers have argued that they committed crimes in self -defense after years of abuse by their father.

Here are some things to know about the case:

What happened in the notorious case of murder of 1989?

The shotgun murders of José and Kitty Menéndez took place in August 20, 1989In his mansion Beverly Hills. His son Lyle Menéndez was the one who called 911, and the brothers initially stated that the murder was related to the mafia or related to his father’s businesses.

The brothers continued to spend spree, buying rolex watches, cars and houses. Two months later, Erik Menéndez told his psychologist, Jerome Oziel, that he and his brother killed his parents. They were finally arrested and accused of the death of their parents.

The case of murder captured the public’s attention. As I immediately passed from the OJ Simpson trial, the nation was hungry for the true crime television. The first trial of the brothers was one of the first to be televised almost completely on the television of the court. He operated documentaries, television specials and dramatizations. Netflix drama ” Monsters: The story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez ″ And the documentary “The Menéndez Brothers”, launched in the fall of 2024, have been accredited for attracting new attention to the case.

Erik and Lyle Menéndez — Archive: This combination of two photos of reservations provided by the California corrections department shows Erik Menéndez, left, and Lyle Menéndez. (California Corrections Department through AP, Archive)

What happened in court?

Lyle’s first trial and Erik Menéndez took place in 1993 with separate juries. Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial gains. The brothers’ lawyers never played the couple killed their parents, but argued that they acted by self -defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.

Both judgments resulted in a jury hung on the three positions for the murder of José and Kitty Menéndez, and the conspiracy to commit a murder. The jurors were divided by murder and honored convictions.

In the second trial of 1995, the judge excluded a substantial amount of evidence presented in the first trial, including the testimony of several family members who witnessed or heard about the abuse. Prosecutors doubled their claim that there was no abuse. A single jury condemned both brothers of three positions, including first -degree murder, in addition to lying in accusations of special circumstances. They were sentenced to life imprisonment without probation in 1996.

What about the appeals process?

In the years that followed, the brothers repeatedly appealed their convictions. In 1998, they were denied by an Appeals Court and the Supreme Court of California. His requests for Habeas Corpus, a request for a court to examine whether someone is being legally arrested, were denied by the State Supreme Court.

After exhausting their options in the State Court, they presented requests in a federal court, which were denied. Then they appealed in 2005 to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied them again.

His lawyer said that after that appeal he failed, they resigned from spending the rest of their lives in prison.

How has the new evidence helped the brothers?

In 2015, the brothers listened to a letter written by Erik Menéndez to their uncle Andy Cano that was mentioned in a television special Barbara Walters. When they asked their lawyers about it, the lawyers did not know the letter and realized that it had not been introduced into any of the judgments, which effectively did new evidence.

This letter, the lawyers say, corroborates the accusations that Erik was sexually abused by his father.

Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin Pop Group often, recently advanced saying that he was drugged and raped by José Menéndez, the father of the children, when he was a teenager in the 1980s. He was often signed under RCA Records, which José Menéndez headed at that time.

Rossello talked about his abuse in Peacock’s docuseries “Menéndez + What: Boys betrayed.” It provided a signed statement to the Brothers’ lawyers, the final evidence necessary to present a new request for Habeas Corpus in May 2023 and request a reexamination of the case.

What ways do they have for freedom now?

The brothers have presented a request for habeas corpus asking the court to give them a new judgment to the light of the new evidence presented.

The Court is also considering a motion of resontent presented by the predecessor of Hochman, George Gascón, last October. Gascón said his office would recommend that the brothers receive a new 50 -year sentence to life, making them eligible for probation immediately because they were less than 26 years old at the time of crimes. If the State Probation Board granted its release, the governor of California Gavin Newsom has 150 days to review the decision of the probation Board.

Finally, the brothers have asked Newsom to give them clemency. Newsom has ordered the state probation board Evaluate whether the brothers would represent a risk to the public if they are released.

What does the current Los Angeles prosecutor say?

Hochman says he opposes the resentment of the Menéndez brothers due to his “lack of complete vision and lack of total responsibility for his murders.”

On Monday, his office announced that he would withdraw the motion of resontent presented by the Gascón office. Hochman also said in February that he does not support the Habeas Corpus’s request from the brothers For a new test.

Hochman said the brothers did not “clarify” about lies they told as the case was developed, including their original statement that they did not kill their parents. He said that his repeated argument that his parents in self -defense did not match the facts of the case that show their premeditated steps to plan the murders and make a gang’s blow appear.

He also said that the brothers did not admit that they tried to make friends perjury for them and lied about their mother tried to poison their whole family.

What happens later?

Hochman’s opposition to resentment considerably reduces the possibilities of the Menéndez brothers in La Libertad, according to Laurie Levenson, former Federal Prosecutor and Professor of Criminal Law at the Loyola Law Faculty in Los Angeles.

“Frankly, it is the details that are established in this long response,” said Levenson, referring to the 88 -page document Launched by your office. “Until now, it has been the opinion of the defense of the facts for the consumption of the court and the public too.”

The previous district prosecutor of Los Angeles, Gascon, supported the ressence, pointing out the rehabilitation of the brothers in prison and saying that the trial would have been treated differently with the current understanding of how sexual and physical abuse affects children.

When prosecutors support resentment, there is a “presumption” that the court will do it, Levenson. Without that support, there may even be jurisdictional problems on whether the court can proceed.

The resentment hearing of the brothers is still scheduled for March 20 and 21, chaired by the judge of the Superior Court of County, Michael Jesus.

“His most likely avenue would be through the governor’s office and clemency,” said Levenson. “That is frankly because Judge Jesus is likely to pay close attention to all the facts established in this opposition.”

Originally published: March 11, 2025 at 1:21 pm edt