Judge delays resentencing hearing for Menendez brothers

By Zoe Sottile, Jean Casarez, Nick Watt and Jason Kravarik, CNN

Los Angeles (CNN) — A judge in California has delayed a scheduled resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez at the brothers’ first hearing since they were sentenced to life in prison for murdering their parents in 1989 and the latest step in their bid to regain freedom.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said at a Monday status hearing the resentencing date, originally scheduled for December 11, would be pushed to January 30. Jesic said he rescheduled the hearing to give the new district attorney time to review the case.

Current Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was resoundingly voted out of office earlier this month and will be replaced by Nathan Hochman next week. Gascón recommended resentencing for the brothers in October, which could allow them to be released from prison after almost 30 years.

The brothers, currently incarcerated in San Diego, appeared virtually for the status hearing — their first court appearance since their 1996 conviction. Technical issues prevented them from being shown on video.

The two men were last seen in public during the second trial for the murder of their parents. After their first trial ended with two deadlocked juries, they were found guilty in a second trial and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The judge imposed strict restrictions on the courtroom for Monday’s hearing: No cameras were allowed in court.

Sixteen seats in the court were offered to the public via lottery in the hours before the hearing, according to a news release from the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Sisters of both victims testified in favor of resentencing the brothers Monday. Joan VanderMolen, the sister of Kitty Menendez, said, “It’s time for them to come home,” and began to tear up in court.

“No child should have to endure what Erik and Lyle did,” VanderMolen, who the brothers’ attorney Mark Garagos said will celebrate her 93rd birthday Tuesday, told the court. “No children should have to live in fear day by day that their dad would come and rape them.”

Jose Menendez’s sister, Terry Baralt, 85, said she would like to “hug them and see them” and not have to visit a jail to do so.

Throughout their two trials, the brothers have not disputed they killed their parents. Instead, they argued they killed them in self-defense after suffering years of sexual, emotional and physical abuse. Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the killings were premeditated, committed so the men could obtain their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.

The push to reexamine the case began in 2023, when a Peacock docuseries featured another alleged victim saying he was raped by Jose Menendez – the brothers’ father. Attorneys for the Menendez brothers filed a habeas petition asking the court to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of new evidence from the other alleged victim and from a letter Erik wrote about the abuse prior to the killings.

In October, Gascón filed a motion recommending a judge resentence the siblings, which could allow them to be released immediately.

“Not only have they worked on their own self-improvement, but they have done a lot of work to better the life of those around them, which that part is unusual,” Gascón told CNN. “I believe they have served enough time.”

Speaking after the Monday hearing, Geragos said that he hoped they would be released from prison at the end of January.

Garagos described VanderMolen and Baralt’s testimony as “extremely moving” in an evening interview with CNN. The brothers are “clearly not at risk for committing any violent act going forward, and the victims are here articulating, under the California constitution, that they want them released,” he said.

If the brothers are released, they will likely continue to engage in prison rehabilitation and reform, Garagos said. “I see them continuing to do that work. They both express that that’s exactly what they like to do and make it their life’s work,” he said.

How we got here

The decades-long legal proceedings stem from 1989, when Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records, and his wife, Kitty Menendez, were shot and killed in their Beverly Hills home. Lyle was 21 years old and Erik was 18 years old. Lyle called 911 and said, “Someone killed my parents.”

The two men were arrested in March 1990 and accused of first-degree murder. They both went to trial in 1993, each with a separate jury. The proceedings were broadcast on Court TV.

The brothers’ defense attorneys argued the brothers were afraid for their lives after experiencing years of abuse, especially at the hands of their father. Both defendants took the stand to testify about the abuse they experienced and said their father had threatened to kill them if they did not keep the abuse secret. Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued the killings were planned in advance and that the brothers sought financial gain.

Both juries deadlocked and could not come to a verdict.

In 1995, the brothers’ retrial began – this time with one jury and no camera in the courtroom. Much of the defense evidence about sexual abuse was excluded, according to defense attorneys. Both brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Since then, the two men have been “model prisoners by all accounts,” Gascón said in an interview with CNN in October. The brothers have participated in victim impact programs, workshops and events, and created multiple programs to help those “in need around them,” according to the resentencing motion filed by Gascón.

After not seeing each other for decades, the brothers were reunited in 2018, when Lyle was transferred to the same housing unit of a San Diego prison as Erik.

A Peacock docuseries, “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” was released in 2023, prompting calls to review the brothers’ sentences. The series features the account of Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, who claims he was raped by Jose Menendez – then the head of RCA Records – in the mid-1980s, when he was 13 or 14 years old.

The Menendez brothers filed a habeas corpus petition shortly after the docuseries was released, citing Rosselló’s allegations as well as a letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin that they say references the abuse. “I never know when its (sic) going to happen and its driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in,” Erik wrote in the 1988 letter. The letter, discovered in 2018, was not presented at either of the two trials, the petition says.

In October, Gascón recommended the brothers be resentenced, saying he supports the resentencing of the brothers to life with the possibility of parole – which normally would mean 50 years to life in prison. But because the crimes happened when the brothers were under 26 years old, under California law they would be eligible for youthful parole.

The district attorney said in October that shifting attitudes about sexual abuse and trauma have changed public perception of the case.

“There is no question that a jury today would look at this case probably very differently than a jury did 35 years ago,” he told CNN.

The case has also received renewed attention because of a television series, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” Erik Menendez has criticized the brothers’ depiction in the series as “dishonest” and “demoralizing.”

Netflix also released a documentary on the Menendez case last month, featuring both men discussing what led to the killings.

Monday’s hearing attracted fans who have followed the documentaries and media coverage of the case and hope to snag a seat in the courtroom. Elena Gordon, who said she first became interested after reading a book about the case, told CNN she came to the courthouse to “experience what I believe it is a historical moment for Southern California.”

“I would love to see justice in its purest form, carried out, whatever that may mean, whether they get out or not,” she said.

What comes next

Gascón’s failed reelection bid has cast some uncertainty over the Menendez brothers’ fate. Hochman, the incoming LA County district attorney and a former federal prosecutor who campaigned on a tougher stance against crime, will take office in early December. Hochman has said he needs time to review the confidential prison files, trial transcripts and extensive exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, defense attorneys and family members of the victims.

“Before I can make any decision about the Menendez brothers’ case, I will need to become thoroughly familiar with the relevant facts, the evidence and the law,” Hochman said in a statement.

In an interview, Hochman said he would move as “expeditiously” as possible to review the case.

“If I ask for a delay, it won’t be a delay for delay’s sake because I think the Menendez brothers, the victim family members, the public deserve to have a decision done as soon as it can be done in a thorough manner,” Hochman told CNN.

There are other ways the brothers could be released. Gascón also wrote letters to Gov. Gavin Newson supporting the brothers in a bid for clemency, which could free the brothers immediately. But Newsom has delayed any clemency decision until Hochman reviews the case, according to a news release from his office.

This story is based on reporting from Nick Watt, Jason Kavarik, and Alicia Park in Los Angeles and Jean Casarez in New York. It was written by Zoe Sottile in New York. CNN’s Eric Levenson, Cindy Von Quednow, Dalia Faheid, and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

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