By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-19 11:06:56 | Updated at 2024-11-23 14:29:44
4 days ago
California governor Gavin Newsom will delay a decision on whether to grant the Menendez brothers clemency until after Los Angeles' new DA reviews the case.
The current DA, George Gascón, asked a judge last month to resentence Lyle and Erik, who were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in 1996 for the first degree murder of Jose and Mary 'Kitty' Menendez at their Beverly Hills mansion.
But the resentencing bid is now in danger, after Gascón lost his re-election attempt to Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who has promised to crack down on LA's increasing violent crime rates.
A spokesperson for Gavin Newsom's office told the New York Times: 'The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility.
'The governor will defer to the D.A.-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.'
Hochman said he would review the case himself after he is sworn into office on December 3, and may ask the Los Angeles Superior Court judge in charge of the case to delay the resentencing petition hearing, currently scheduled for December 11.
The DA-elect said in a statement on Monday: 'Once I take office on Dec. 3, I look forward to putting in the hard work to thoroughly review the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison files, the transcripts of the two trials and the voluminous exhibits, as well as speaking with the prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim family members.'
DailyMail.com has contacted the Menendez brothers' attorney, Mark Geragos, for comment.
Lyle (L) and Erik (R) were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in 1996 for the first degree murder of Jose and Mary 'Kitty' Menendez
The brothers killed their parents, Kitty and Jose, with a shotgun in 1989
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024
The Menendez brothers' case shocked the world in 1989.
Lyle, a then-22-year-old Princeton student, and Erik, a then-19-year-old professional tennis player, walked into the den of their $5 million Beverly Hills mansion in August that year and shot Jose point blank in the back of the head with a shotgun.
They then turned the gun on their mother as she tried to run from the room. In total, they shot Jose five times and Kitty nine.
Prosecutors believed that Lyle and Erik killed their parents because they wanted unfettered access to their $14 million estate. Both bought Rolex watches, condominiums, sports cars, and expensive other items in the months after the murders.
The brothers had two trials - the first had a hung jury and was ultimately ruled a mistrial, but when they were retried together in 1996, they were found guilty.
They lost an appeal against their conviction in 2005 and are both currently serving out their sentences at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County.
During their trial, the brothers did not deny the killings but claimed they acted in self-defense, namely out of fear their father would kill them for threatening to reveal the abuse.
Arguments put forward by their defense team described the pair as 'not harboring the mental state needed for first-degree murder and were therefore guilty of manslaughter'.
Gascón argued the brothers are not a risk to public safety as they've been 'exceptional prisoners all the way around' during their incarcerations, and have paid their dues
The Menendez brothers killed their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989
Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin, Andy Cano, in which he alludes to serious, and long-term, abuse at the hands of his father Jose
It was announced last month, DA George Gascón - who lost his reelection bid - that recommended the brothers for resentencing
The brothers' case was boosted last year when Roy Rossello a former singer in boy band Menudo claimed that there father had raped him at 13.
The Menendez's lawyers also filed a recently unearthed letter that Erik sent his cousin Andy Cano about eight months before the killings.
'I've been trying to avoid dad,' the hand-scrawled message read.
'It's still happening, Andy, but it's worse for me now. I can't explain it. He is so overweight that I can't stand to see him.
'I never know when it's going to happen and it's driving me crazy. Every night, I stay up thinking he might to come in. I need to put it out of my mind.
'I know what you said before but I'm afraid. You just don't know dad like I do. He's crazy. He's warned me a hundred times about telling anyone, especially Lyle.'
Their cousin testified that when Erik was 13, he came to him and told him that his father Jose was touching and 'massaging' his genitals, asking if that was normal.
Another one of their cousins' named Diane Vander Molen, also said that Lyle spoke about the abuse to her when he was eight years old, and that she went to his mother about his confession, but was told he was lying.
