April 11 (UPI) — Erik and Lyle Menendez on Friday have a resentencing hearing scheduled in Los Angeles. New District Attorney Nathan Hockman wants the judge to throw out the resentencing request.
The Menendez brothers, 21 and 18 at the time of the crime, have spent over 30 years in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez.
Their case was under review last year by then-Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon. His recommendation was they should be resentenced to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole.
But his successor Nathan Hockman said in March that the resentencing request should be withdrawn and the brothers shouldn’t get out of jail.
He said they haven’t taken responsibility for their actions.
Judge Michael Jesic will have to decide at Friday’s hearing whether the resentencing should proceed and also whether the current prosecutor can withdraw Gascon’s recommendation.
The brothers are currently serving life without parole.
The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 at a second trial. Their first trial ended with an undecided jury.
In that second trial evidence of abuse the defendants said they were subjected to by their parents was excluded.
The brothers are seeking another avenue for legal relief through possible clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
He had a state parole board do a risk assessment to try to determine whether the brothers would be a risk to public safety if released.
The clemency hearing is expected to happen June 13.
The brothers accused their father of physical and sexual abuse.
Their attorneys argued in court that they killed their parents in self-defense, believing their allegedly abusive parents would kill them to prevent the abuse from being publicly revealed.
Prosecutors argued they lied about the alleged abuse and killed their parents for a $15 million fortune.
