California governor will not make clemency decision for Menendez brothers until new DA reviews case

SACRAMENTO, California — California Governor Gavin Newsom said he will not make a clemency decision on Erik and Kyle Menendez’s murder convictions until the newly elected Los Angeles County district attorney is elected. Nathan Hochman discusses the almost 35-year-old case.

In October, prosecutors filed a recommendation for the revenge of the brothers about the murder conviction in the 1989 slayings of their parents in their Beverly Hills home. George Gascón, the current district attorney, asked a judge to impose a new sentence of 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole.

Gascón, who was endorsed by Newsom, lost reelection this month, so the governor said he would bow out the next public prosecutor time to reconsider the matter.

“The Governor respects the role of the District Attorney in ensuring justice and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman with this responsibility,” the governor’s office said in a statement Monday. “The Governor will await the elected district attorney’s review and analysis of the Menendez case before making any clemency decisions.”

Hochman told the Associated Press last week that he could not comment on the sentencing recommendation until he has time to review confidential documents related to the brothers.

The two were originally sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Lyle Menendezthen 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to fatally shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez.

They were tried twice for the murder of their parents, with the first trial ending in a hung jury. The brothers said they feared their parents were about to kill them to prevent the revelation of the father’s lengthy sexual abuse of Erik Menendez. Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial gain and claimed no such abuse occurred.

The brothers’ extended family has called for their release. Several family members have said that in today’s world – which is more aware of the impact of sexual abuse – the brothers would not have been convicted of first-degree murder and would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Their attorney first filed a petition to re-examine their case in May 2023.