LOS ANGELES, CA – A risk assessment investigation into Erik and Lyle Menendez has now been requested by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging the State Parole Board to review the potential safety concern the brothers pose to the public, reported the Los Angeles Times this week.
Serving life sentences for the 1989 murder of their parents, the Menendez brothers’ investigation comes after years of unsuccessful attempts at clemency for the crime they committed decades ago, said the LA Times.
Announced on Wednesday, the rekindling of public interest in the brothers’ case sparked the fuel for the investigation, following new evidence of the brothers suffering sexual assault at the hands of Jose Menendez, their father, reported the Los Angeles Times.
After their attorneys, Mark Geragos and Cliff Gardner, submitted a clemency request to the governor last year, Newsom stressed that the basis of clemency will be considered on the basis of risks to public safety, the brothers’ extent of self-improvement, and their commitment to available rehabilitation resources, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Based on their attorneys and fellow inmates, the brothers founded a program encouraging rehabilitation of California inmates, participating extensively in their own rehabilitation programs, noted the Times.
Revealed on his podcast, “This is Gavin Newsom,” the Los Angeles Times reports the Governor warned against expecting results, emphasizing the amount of clemency requests his office receives every day. However, the Los Angeles Times specifies, Newsom highlighted the investigation’s vital opportunity to provide transparency.
In 2023, the brothers filed a habeas corpus petition arguing that the reemergence of a 1988 letter between Erik and his cousin revealed Jose Menendez’s sexual assault of the brothers, dismantling the prosecutor’s argument that the brothers murdered their parents to inherit their multimillion-dollar estate, reported the Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Times wrote, while the prosecutor acknowledged that the sexual assault could constitute motivation for the murder, it does not justify self-defense. However, the defense attorney argued the sexual assault permeated the brothers’ lives for years before the shooting constituted self-defense.
At the age of 18, the brothers purchased a shotgun with cash, shooting their parents while they sat on the couch, only getting caught when Erik confessed the murder to his therapist, reported the Los Angeles Times.
After a hung jury in their first trial and suppression of sexual assault evidence in their second, in October, District Attorney George Gascón urged a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge to modify their life sentences without parole to a 50 years to life sentence, making them eligible for parole because of their age at conviction, detailed the Los Angeles Times.
But, added the LA Times, while Gascón supported clemency, new District Attorney Nathan Hochman claims he would make a recommendation only after reviewing their case.
Newsom will make a decision after Hochman’s review, wrote the Los Angeles Times.
