LA district attorney asks for delay in Menendez brothers’ resentencing hearings

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office filed a request late Wednesday to delay Thursday’s resentencing hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez, according to reports.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s office said in the filing that the resentencing hearings, set for Thursday and Friday, should be put on hold until the court obtains copies of comprehensive risk assessments for the brothers that were completed by state prison and parole officers, NBC News reported.   

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told Fox News in response that the comprehensive risk assessment is ongoing and will be completed on June 13, 2025. Per California legal regulations, one component of it has been released to the involved parties for their review 60 days before the clemency hearing and is subject to correction, his office said. Newsom’s office said it notified Judge Michael Jesic of the status of this report, which is not a stand-alone risk assessment, and offered to share it with the court if he requests it.

It was not immediately clear if the DA’s filing would affect Thursday’s hearing, which is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. local time.

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The Menendez brothers’ discussed their push for freedom, decades after their parents’ brutal murders, in a recent interview with TMZ.

In the feature, “TMZ Presents: The Menendez Brothers: The Prison Interview,” both brothers were interviewed and discussed how prison has changed them and how they envision life outside of prison walls. 

“We’re very hopeful, we’ve done what we can with the time we’ve had,” Lyle Menendez said in the interview.

“Hope for the future is kind of a new thing for us,” he continued.

The scenes then show a young Erik and Lyle and the grisly crime scene they left behind in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989 after killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

“It was almost the perfect murder,” said former Beverly Hills Police Detective Tom Linehan.

Now, more than 35 years later, the fate of the brothers lies in the hands of a Los Angeles County judge, who legal experts say will have to answer two simple questions: Do Erik and Lyle pose an unreasonable risk to the public, and does he believe they have rehabilitated? 

Linehan unequivocally said he would not trust them and what they did was the “worst, most heinous murder case” he has ever seen. 

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“They are two of the most skilled liars and their notary is what sets them apart from other inmates in similar situations,” Linehan said. “If things weren’t going their way, they could do this again.” 

Hochman has also said he does not agree with the resentencing but is prepared to move forward.

Hochman has said that it is up to the court to factor in whether the “lack of acceptance of responsibility for their murderous actions” is enough to decide whether the Menendez brothers pose an unreasonable risk of danger to the community.

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“Though this pathway to resentencing has been offered to the Menendez brothers, they have chosen to stubbornly remain hunkered down in their over 30-year-old bunker of lies, deceit and denials,” Hochman said. 

However, family and other supporters of the Menendez brothers argued they have paid their dues and have changed. 

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A former inmate, rapper X-Rated, who served 18 years with Lyle and Erik, said they do not belong in prison, even claiming his neighbor’s dog was more dangerous than the Menendez brothers. 

He added that they have helped him and many others get out of prison and rehabilitate in society, showing selflessness, knowing they had “no chance” of getting out while they were helping others.

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“The fact they did all this without getting anything in return says a lot,” the rapper said. 

Lyle said that he and Erik have developed a peace and patience that most people would not understand. 

Erik admitted they were “spoiled brats” and that he suffered from severe insecurity issues. He added that he wants to be an advocate for other sexually abused victims, saying that “no one should have to be trapped” like he was. 

Both Lyle and Erik Menendez have come forward in documentaries and on social media claiming their father sexually abused them, offering a different narrative of the killings than the story their attorneys told in the 1990s.

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They maintain they killed their parents in self-defense. 

Their first trial ended in a mistrial, when jurors could not agree on their fate. After a second trial in the mid-1990s, in which some of their evidence about the alleged sexual abuse was excluded, jurors agreed with prosecutors that their motive was greed. 

If the judge decides to resentence the Menendez brothers, it will then be up to the state parole board to consider their release.   

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Because they were under 26 years old at the time of the murders, under current California law, new sentences of 50 years to life would immediately make them eligible for a parole hearing. 

They are already scheduled to appear before the board on June 13 as part of a comprehensive risk assessment report ordered by Newsom, who is considering the brothers’ clemency request – a separate potential path out of prison.

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz and Melissa Chrise contributed to this report.