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L.A. District Attorney Announces New Hearing for Brothers Erik & Lyle Menéndez — Here's Why
More than a year after the Menéndez brothers sought to have their 1996 convictions overturned, D.A. George Gascón said "a greater level of sensitivity" would be applied to the case today.
The high-profile case of the Menéndez brothers is getting new life after prosecutors agreed to review evidence in the 1989 murders, officials announced.
On Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón called a press conference, telling reporters that his office plans to “reevaluate” the case in which Lyle and Erik Menéndez brutally shot their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, to death inside their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989, according to KTLA news.
In what became one of America’s most publicized trials, the young men maintained they suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their father, information that was severely limited during their second murder trial.
In light of shifting attitudes over how the courts convict (adult) children of killing their abusers, the case has recently seen a mountain of publicity.
“There is no question that today [there] would have been a greater level of sensitivity to the way the case was looked at,” Gascón said at the press conference.
Public Support for the Menéndez Brothers
The new series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and an upcoming documentary featuring the brothers are just a couple reasons why the case has been a renewed subject of discussion in recent weeks. In addition, the 2023 Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed highlighted accusations that Erik and Lyle's father, music exec José Menéndez, raped a member of Menudo boy band singer Roy Rosselló, contributing to the public's support for the incarcerated men potentially having a resentencing, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Kim Kardashian is among the members of the public supporting the men's requests that their life sentences be reevaluated. In a personal essay published by NBC News, she wrote, "We owe it to those little boys who lost their childhoods, who never had a chance to be heard, helped, or saved."
What is the new evidence in the Menéndez case?
It isn’t a question of whether Lyle and Erik, then 21 and 18, killed their parents with a pair of shotguns, but whether they should have instead been convicted of a lesser charge, such as manslaughter, over first-degree murder.
“We are reviewing the information,” said Gascón. “But I think it’s also important that we recognize that both men and women can be the victims of sexual assault.”
News of a review comes over a year after the brothers, now in their fifties, sought to vacate their 1996 convictions. Their writ of habeas corpus was filed the same month of the release of the Peacock original Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, in which Rosselló accused José Menéndez of drugging and raping him in a New Jersey home when he was just 14.
Gascón said allegations by “one of the members of the Menudo band,” as well as a photocopied letter “allegedly sent by one of the brothers to another family member” would be significant factors in the case.
As previously noted by Oxygen.com, a defense attorney unearthed a letter dated 1988 — months before the double homicide — in which Erik told his cousin that his father was abusing him. Erik allegedly said the abuse was “still happening” and that he was warned by the father “a hundred times” about discussing the alleged abuse to others.
The District Attorney stressed that neither allegation by the brothers or the Menudo singer "has been confirmed.”
“What we’re here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us,” Gascón said, adding that his office would consider if the alleged abuse should have been introduced as evidence during the mid-’90s trial and whether resentencing is necessary.
Gascón, who is up for reelection this November, said he has a "very experienced" team of lawyers reviewing the case. "Their recommendation will be presented to me, but the final decision will be mine," he said.
It's possible, the prosecutor said, that the brothers could “walk out” if they're deemed to have spent enough time behind bars after 35 years. Another possibility is that there's a third trial.
RELATED: Inside Lyle and Erik Menéndez's Life Behind Bars 30 Years After Their Parents' Murders
Erik and Lyle Menéndez's Attorneys Speak Out
Though prosecutors argued that the brothers murdered their parents out of greed, the brothers' attorneys have stated that the brothers truly feared for their lives and had no other option. As such, their attorney said, they hope Erik and Lyle's murder convictions are vacated, according to The Associated Press
"Given today’s very different understanding of how sexual and physical abuse impacts children — both boys and girls — and the remarkable new evidence, we think resentencing is the appropriate result,” Gardner said in an emailed statement, per the AP. “The brothers have served more than 30 years in prison. That is enough.”
Will Lyle and Erik Menéndez have a hearing on the case?
Yes, the Menéndez brothers will have a hearing take place on November 29, 2024, Gascón told the press.
“My intent is to bring finality to this,” said the District Attorney.
According to TMZ, a spokesperson for the Beverly Hills Police Department — the original investigating agency in the murders — had not been contacted by the Los Angeles County D.A.’s Office about the new evidence.
Learn more about the case, including the allegations against José Menéndez, in Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, now available to watch on Peacock.
