A California judge ruled Friday that the resentencing hearings for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were convicted of murdering their parents over three decades ago, will go ahead as planned.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said following arguments that the hearing will proceed next Thursday.
Deputy LA District Attorney Habib Balian had argued earlier that the brothers hadn’t taken accountability for their crime, and should remain in prison because they “haven’t changed” since their conviction.
He also claimed that former District Attorney George Gascón's move to request reduced sentencing had been politically motivated at a time he was struggling to be elected. Gascón, a progressive, had advocated for the brothers to receive a sentence that would make them eligible for immediate parole.
Gascón’s successor, District Attorney Nathan Hochman, reversed course on the brothers, and submitted a motion last month to withdraw the resentencing request.
The brothers' attorney, Mark Geragos, harshly criticized the prosecution Friday for showing gruesome crime scene photos in what he said was an attempt to restage the original trial.
Referring to the prosecution’s arguments, Jesic noted in his ruling that “everything you argued today is absolutely fair game for the resentencing hearing.”
The brothers were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at ages 18 and 21 after being convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
In 2014, California passed a law allowing inmates who had committed offenses before they turned 26 and had spent 25 years behind bars to ask for youth offender parole.
While the defense argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
On the night of the murders, Jose and Kitty Menendez were watching a movie in their theater den when their sons entered and shot them.
The brothers were convicted in 1996 and have spent 30 years behind bars, and were most recently being held at the Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County.
Friday’s hearing became heated as the prosecution spent nearly two hours arguing the brothers hadn’t been rehabilitated, according to news reports. No cameras were allowed inside the courtroom.
Geragos accused the prosecution of grandstanding and trying to relitigate the case, claiming “they don’t want to finish today,” Newsweek reported.
Geragos also accused the prosecution of retraumatizing family members by flashing photos of the bloody crime scene.
Balian insisted the “question is did they learn the most important lesson of all: Did they learn the severity and depravity of their conduct?" he asked the court. "You must take responsibility. If you don't have insight ... you might repeat the past."
Most of the brothers’ family members support their release. One relative, Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez’s brother, did not, but he passed away last month.
A handful of celebrities attended the hearing, including Actor Cooper Koch, who played Erik Menendez in the 2024 series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
There has been much debate surrounding whether the brothers might pose a risk to public safety.
Governor Gavin Newsom has asked a state parole board to conduct a risk assessment. The results are expected by June 13.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
