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The legal team for the Menendez brothers has expressed hope the two convicted killers could be home with their family by Thanksgiving after a resentencing push overcame a major hurdle last week.
That timeline is unlikely, according to experts, but the brothers could well go free despite exhausting all of their appeals years ago and receiving sentences of life without parole.
Erik and Joseph “Lyle” Menendez claim they shot their father, former RCA Records executive Jose Menendez, in self-defense, arguing that they thought he was going to kill them after they warned him they planned to expose him as a child sex abuser. They also killed their mother, Mary “Kitty” Menendez, who was sitting next to Jose eating ice cream and watching TV during the ambush. The brothers ran out of shells and reloaded outside before returning to finish her off.
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Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez sit with defense attorney Leslie Abramson, right, in Beverly Hills Municipal Court during a hearing, Nov. 26, 1990. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
The first major hurdle in their quest for reduced sentences was Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón, who agreed with their arguments and asked a judge last week to hear them in court.
But there is a significant chance he could lose his re-election bid on Tuesday and be out of office before their resentencing hearing takes place in December.
Flanked by family and staff, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announces his decision regarding the potential resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez at the Hall of Justice in Los Angeles on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón announced that he will ask a judge to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez for the killing of their parents in 1989, a decision that could free the brothers. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
TIMELINE OF THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS’ MURDER CASE
Here are the remaining key players they will have to convince to grant them freedom:
Mark Geragos, defense attorney of Erik and Lyle Menendez, the Beverly Hills brothers convicted of killing their parents, speaks during a press conference at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, California, October 16, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Blake)
Mark Geragos
The brothers’ defense attorney has been working overtime trying to have them freed since late last year. In addition to the resentencing push, he has moved forward with a habeas corpus petition and separately petitioned the governor for clemency.
If successful in any of those three endeavors, the high-profile California attorney could win his clients’ freedom.
Nathan Hochman
The former federal prosecutor is Gascon’s challenger on Election Day. Recent polls illustrate a significant lead, and if he wins, he would be helming the office at the time of their resentencing hearing.
A source familiar with Hochman’s thinking told Fox News Digital that, if elected, he would likely ask the judge to delay the hearing so he could familiarize himself with the case. The hearing is on Dec. 11, and the new DA would be sworn in just two days earlier.
District Attorney Candidate Nathan Hochman speaks alongside Actress Esme Bianco during a press conference to criticize L.A. County D.A. George Gascón for not yet prosecuting the singer Marilyn Manson, and mishandling scores of other cases involving gender-based violence on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
His campaign has not committed to freeing the Menendez brothers or keeping them in jail. He could continue where Gascón left off and seek the resentencing, ask the judge to withdraw the prior administration’s resentencing request, or file additional briefs to give the judge more material to work with as the court considers the matter.
“As a candidate Nathan has been clear that he will approach every case with the diligence and integrity that every victim and defendant deserves,” campaign spokesman Stuart Pfeifer told Fox News Digital. “That includes thoroughly reviewing the facts and the law before making any findings.”
Without being in office, Hochman doesn’t have access to all of the case files.
“Nathan understands how important this case is for many Angelenos, and as district attorney he will absolutely give it the attention that it deserves and ensure justice and fairness is exercised,” Pfeifer said.
Judge Michael Jesic
The judge previously scheduled a conference for late November and a resentencing hearing on Dec. 11.
Gascón has asked him to resentence the brothers to sentences of 50 years to life in prison for the murders of their parents. Doing so would make them immediately eligible for parole, but not immediate release for time served.
California’s Parole Board
If the brothers see their sentences reduced, the state will have six months to hold parole hearings for them. Those hearings will take place in front of a commissioner and deputy commissioner, who will weigh a number of factors and recommend either keeping the brothers locked up or releasing them.
If they approve parole, their findings would go to the governor for review, and he would have 120 days to respond.
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Gov. Gavin Newsom
Newsom, who has gone both ways on parole requests in his years in office, has the final say.
If the parole board approves the brothers’ release, Newsom would have several options. He could agree, clearing the way for their freedom. He could overrule the parole board. He could send the cases back for further review, reconsideration or even a new parole hearing.
California Governor Gavin Newsom stands with actor Danny Trejo (L) and SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland at a press conference at Raleigh Studios unveiling a vast expansion of California’s Film and Television Credit Program on October 27, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
If Newsom does veto a parole board decision to release the brothers, they can try to sue him, according to John Lewin, a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles. Inmates have seen mixed results in such cases.
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If the parole board denies the release, Newsom could still let the brothers go free, however.
Their attorney Mark Geragos asked the governor for clemency on their behalf earlier this week, and Gascón sent separate letters of support, one for each brother, urging the governor to commute their sentences and let them out.
Newsom last week declined to comment on the clemency applications.
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A spokesperson said they are confidential and cannot be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
Milton Andersen
A wildcard, the Menendez brother’s 90-year-old uncle is their mother’s brother, and unlike most of their relatives, he vehemently opposes their release.
Andersen’s attorney has already asked the judge to reject claims of new evidence that could bolster the brothers’ claim that their father was a child molester.
“It’s Milton Andersen’s continued belief that the claims of molestation were made up, and they were false, and he believes that the correct verdict was issued by the jury, and the correct sentence was also committed,” his lawyer Kathleen Cady told Fox News Digital last week. “One of the concerns for him, and should be for everyone really, was at the trial, the Menendez brothers tried to get two specific witnesses to come in and lie for them. And those witnesses testified and said, ‘Yea. They asked us to lie for them.’”
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Separately, the brothers have a habeas petition making its way through the court system that could lead to reduced sentences or even freedom without the resentencing or clemency processes.
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