LA County district attorney sends letters requesting clemency for Menendez brothers
By Matthew J. Friedman and Karina Tsui, CNN
(CNN) — Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón “strongly supports” Erik and Lyle Menendez’s bid for clemency and has written letters on behalf of each brother to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, he announced Wednesday.
The letters, published by Gascón’s office, describe the 1989 murders by the Menendez brothers of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, as well as “credible allegations” that Erik and Lyle were each “the victim of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of (their) father.”
The brothers’ 34 years spent in custody and “dedication to rehabilitation” make them “exemplary” candidates for clemency, Gascón wrote. The district attorney adds that his office has communicated with several family members of Kitty and Jose Menendez and all family members except one, Kitty Menendez’s brother, support commutation.
CNN has reached out to the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, to confirm a formal clemency request has been sent to the governor’s office. Newsom’s office declined to comment on the case, saying “pending clemency applications are confidential and we’re not able to discuss individual cases.”
If approved by the governor, the Menendez brothers could see their sentence – life in prison without the possibility of parole – reduced, or they could be released immediately.
“I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez,” Gascón said in a statement Wednesday. “They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates.”
Gascon’s announcement comes days after the district attorney filed a motion recommending a judge resentence the siblings –– from life in prison without parole to life in prison with parole.
Under California law, the brothers would be immediately eligible for parole because they were 26 or younger when they committed their crimes.
A hearing for the resentencing request has been set for December 11, according to a court official and Holly Baird, a spokesperson for the brothers’ lawyer Mark Geragos.
“They were appropriately sentenced at the time when they were tried,” Gascón said in an earlier interview with CNN. “I just think that given the current state of the law and given our assessment of their behavior in prison, they deserve the opportunity to be reevaluated and perhaps reintegrated into the community.”
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