Erik and Lyle Menendez – Brothers who spent 34 years behind bars for murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. A made-for-TV case that attracted worldwide attention – late last month I received hopeful news from Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón says he will ask judge to reconsider life sentences allowing them to apply for parole.

Less than two weeks later, Gascón defeated in re-election bid. The incoming district attorney, Nathan Hochman, said that if the case is not solved when he takes office on Dec. 2, he will review the case and decide whether to recommend to the judge that the brothers be enraged, as Gascón wants. for.

The brothers are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. The prosecutor’s office under Gascón recently filed a petition to have their sentences commuted to life, with the possibility of parole.

Hochman said he wants to review confidential files and thousands of pages of trial transcripts in the case and speak with prosecutors, law enforcement personnel, defense attorneys and victim family members before making his own recommendation.

Hochman said if necessary, he could ask the judge to postpone the resentencing hearing, which was scheduled for Dec. 11 (nine days after he took office).

“I owe it to the Menendez brothers, the victim family members, and the public to ensure that my decision was made after a thorough review,” Hochman said.

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s attorney, Mark Geragos, said in a statement Friday, Nov. 15, that his clients are aware of the upcoming changes in the DA’s office and are “cautiously optimistic” about their fate.

“Everyone who reviewed the files came to the same conclusion,” Geragos said in an interview. “I imagine that as a reasonable man (Hochman) would come to the same conclusion that all reasonable people come to, which is that they should be out.”

Menendez brothers made national headlines for killing his parentsJose and Kitty Menendez in 1989, when they were 21 and 18 years old. Their lawyers claimed that they were subjected to emotional and sexual abuse by their father, an RCA Records executive, and that they acted in self-defense.

The first trials for both men ended with deadlocked juries. In the second trial, jurors found the brothers guilty of first-degree murder.

The brothers, now 56 and 53, are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole at a prison in San Diego County.

In October, District Attorney Gascón announced that he would ask the judge Reducing the brothers’ sentences to life with the possibility of parole. Since the murders were committed when the brothers were under 26, they would be able to be released from prison immediately.

The state parole board will still have to decide whether their release will be approved. If it passes, Gov. Gavin Newsom could agree or reject the board’s decision.

Gascón said he decided to re-examine the case because of new evidence: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin years ago, which his lawyers say corroborates allegations that their father sexually abused him and a former member of a Latin pop group who came forward recently and said that when he was a teenager in the 1980s Menudo group who says she was raped by Jose Menendez.

Besides possible resentment, there are other legal remedies the defense team is pursuing.

On Nov. 25, the judge will hear a motion to vacate the convictions and hold a new trial because the Menendez brothers were not allowed to present evidence at their second trial that their attorneys say shows Jose Menendez sexually assaulted their son.

Additionally, the defense team asked the governor to show mercy to the brothers.

Joan VanderMolen, one of the brothers’ aunts, turns 93 at the end of this month and “would love to take them out for her birthday,” Geragos said.

The governor’s office gave no indication either way when asked whether Newsom was considering clemency. His office said the pending clemency requests were confidential and they could not discuss the case. If Newsom decides to act, he doesn’t need to act by a specific date.

Public interest in the case has increased again due to documentaries about the brothers released this year.

More than a dozen family members Support the brothers’ release from prison. Many said that in today’s society, which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse, Erik and Lyle Menendez would not be convicted of first-degree murder. They say the brothers are not a threat to society.

But at least one relative, Kitty Menendez’s brother, Milton Andersen, opposes a lighter sentence that could free the siblings. He said through his lawyer that he did not believe his nephews were abused. Andersen’s attorney said in a recent statement that his actions “were motivated by pure greed because they had just learned they would be excluded from the will.”