Menendez brothers beg Gavin Newsom to let them out of prison before Thanksgiving
The Menendez brothers beg to be released from prison before Thanksgiving as their legal team devises a new strategy to free them.
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s attorney, Mark Geragos, filed documents today asking California Governor Gavin Newsom for clemency. TMZ.
According to the official website for Newsom, clemency can result in a reduced sentence or “pardon,” which provides “relief from punishment” and restores certain civil rights to people convicted of a crime.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were convicted of murdering their parents in 1996 in a trial that gripped and divided the nation
The brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, has said he will apply for a reduced sentence or “pardon.”
The brothers told the court they acted in self-defense after suffering a lifetime of sexual abuse at the hands of their father
‘We have two tracks. “I’m doing everything possible, I’ve said publicly, I want them home not only for Thanksgiving, but for Joan’s 93rd and also to celebrate with Aunt Terry,” Geragos said, referring to the sister of the brothers’ mother, Joan VanderMolen and sister of the brothers’ father, Terry Barait, reported American weekly.
Geragos also told TMZ that they plan to ask the judge in their sentencing hearing to change the brothers’ conviction from murder to involuntary manslaughter.
If this were allowed, they would be released immediately due to the time already served.
Due to public interest, the brothers’ case was requested to be reopened in October 2024 following the release of the Netflix series Monsters and the documentary The Menendez Brothers
Joan VanderMolen, the sister of murder victim Kitty Menendez, will soon celebrate her 93rd birthday and the Menendez brothers’ legal team hopes to have the brothers celebrate with her out of prison
A new judge is also expected in the case, and the upcoming hearing on the criminal case will take place next month.
The Mendez brothers were sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996 for the murders of their mother, Kitty Menendez, and their father, José Menendez.
The brothers told the court during their trial that they had acted in self-defense after suffering a lifetime of sexual abuse at the hands of their father.
On October 24, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon requested their case be reopened on public interest grounds following the release of the Netflix limited series Monsters and the documentary The Menendez Brothers.
During his announcement, Gascon said: “They have been in prison for almost 35 years. I believe they have paid their debt to society.”
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon recommended the brothers be resentenced and their legal team wants their conviction commuted to involuntary manslaughter
Gascon said: “They have been in prison for almost 35 years. I believe they have paid their debt to society.”
Many have expressed concern about the brothers’ release. Pop culture guru Perez Hilton is concerned that Erik and Lyle will be treated the same way as Gypsy Rose Blanchard after her recent release.
The columnist, blogger and social media personality said that “a lot of people will turn against them,” and that “they will be put under a microscope upon their release,” he told Fox News.
He also warned of how bombarded they may be through social media, and how many of them are scrutinizing the money-making opportunities that could come from their attention.
However, stars like Kim Kardashian have celebrated the brothers’ possible release. The 44-year-old said on Instagram last week that the brothers had been “given a second chance” and praised Gascon for “righting a significant injustice.”