What to know about the Menendez brothers resentencing hearing

A hearing on resentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez will move forward Thursday when their attorneys argue before a judge in Los Angeles that the brothers have served enough time in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents in the family's Beverly Hills mansion.

The long-awaited and re-scheduled hearing at a courthouse in Van Nuys comes after a contentious court proceeding last week at which Los Angeles County prosecutors aggressively argued against resentencing for the brothers, who are serving life sentences without parole after two murder trials three decades ago. The judge decided to move ahead with the resentencing process, despite assertions from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office that the brothers killed Jose and Kitty Menendez for a multimillion-dollar inheritance and have not admitted to lies during their trials nor taken complete responsibility for the crime.

Defense attorneys claim the brothers acted in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father.

The path to the the hearing, delayed by the January wildfires and a prosecution request for more time to review the case, took another twist late Wednesday with a request from the district attorney's office for a delay. The DA’s office said it was important for the court to obtain a copy of comprehensive risk assessments being completed at the behest of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

It is not clear what impact the request will have on the start of Thursday's hearing. The judge was expected to address the matter before the hearing.

The governor's office said the assessments being prepared for a hearing in June are not complete.

Erik, 54, and Lyle, 57, Menendez were ages 18 and 21, respectively, when they were sentenced in a crime that commanded the public's attention, which was renewed with the release of the Netflix drama "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" and the documentary "The Menendez Brothers," released in the fall of 2024.

Sixteen tickets will be given out lottery-style for a seat Thursday in the courtroom, where proceedings about the brothers' suitability for resentencing are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. California time before Judge Michael Jesic. No cameras are allowed in the courtroom.

The road to Thursday's hearing, which could continue into Friday, began in October when then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón asked a judge to change the brothers' sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life. That would make them immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.

But Gascón was defeated by Nathan Hochman in the November election. After asking for time to review the case, Hochman made it clear his office would not support resentencing and withdrew his predecessor's request.

At last week's hearing, Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said a key issue with Gascón’s resentencing petition was that it did not fully address rehabilitation and missed key elements of the original crime committed. He argued they were "hunkered down in their bunker of deceit, lies, and deception."

Balian said the killings were motivated by greed when the Menendez brothers learned they would be taken out of the will, citing psychiatrist's notes that he said showed "this was not self-defense."

During the resentencing hearing, the district attorney's office will likely revisit many of the arguments made at Friday's hearing. Arguments both for and against resentencing also are laid out in hundreds of pages of filings that have been reviewed by Jesic.

"The Menendez's have not yet been fully rehabilitated," Hochman said this week in an interview with NBCLA. "The Menendez brothers have been given numerous chances to come clean over the last 30 years and admit the full range of their criminal, and they've chosen not to."

The hearing is an opportunity for the brothers to demonstrate to a judge that they have lived a life in prison that's worthy of resentencing as outlined under California law. If the judge agrees, their sentence could be reduced to a penalty less than life without the possibility of parole before their case is considered by a parole board.

It was not immediately clear when a decision might be announced.

"We look forward to a full, fair presentation of who Eric and Lyle are today, not just a version frozen in time in a time of pain and fear, but the whole truth — the growth, the humanity and the men they’ve become,” said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers, after Friday's hearing.

Attorney Mark Geragos described the prosecution's presentation last week, which included bloody crimes scene photos that are the subject of a complaint by the family, as a "dog and pony show." He called the proceeding "nothing more than political cover" as a result of Hochman defeating Gascón in the district attorney’s race.

Geragos argued the judge had full authority to proceed with resentencing under a California law passed in 2023 that allows a court to recall a sentence and initiate resentencing at any point in time. Under the law, courts can reduce penalties based on a variety of factors, including a prisoner's age and their conduct while incarcerated.

If nothing changes after this week's proceedings, the brothers still have two paths to freedom.

They submitted a clemency plea to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who ordered the state parole board to assess whether the brothers could pose a public risk if released. The risk-assessment process is standard practice in parole cases and used to determine whether an inmate poses a threat to public safety if they were released.

The brothers also submitted a petition for habeas corpus in May 2023 asking the court to grant them a new trial in light of new evidence presented. Hochman's office also filed a motion opposing the petition.

In the court petition, attorneys for the brothers pointed to two new pieces of evidence they contend corroborate the brothers' allegations of long-term sexual abuse by their father. The evidence included a letter allegedly
written by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in early 1989 or late 1988 and recent allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, that he too was sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager.