Erik and Lyle Menendez Eligible for Parole After Resentencing

On May 13, a resentencing hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez took place, where several family members spoke, explaining they felt the brothers should be freed from prison after murdering their parents in 1989.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic heard the testimonies and, at the end of the day, ruled to resentence Erik and Lyle to 50 years to life, finally giving them a chance to be freed at a parole hearing. He said he had given the situation “long thought” and, while the crime they committed was “absolutely horrible,” he believed “they’ve done enough over the last 35 years that one day they should get that chance [to be released].”

"Life without parole gives an inmate no hope,” he added, “ no reason to do anything good. And I give them a lot of credit. It's remarkable what they did when they had no hope of getting out.”

Erik and Lyle’s cousin, Anamaria Baralt, spoke out to say their relatives wanted the judge to give her cousins a sentence less than life without parole for killing Kitty and Jose Menendez.

“We all on both sides of the family say 35 years is enough,” she pleaded. “They are universally forgiven by both sides of their families.”

“I don’t think they are the same people they were 30 years ago,” she added.

Mark Geragos, a defense lawyer, argued they killed their parents only out of fear their father might murder them to conceal years of sexually abusing them. Anamaria also reiterated this as the reason Erik and Lyle Murdered their parents, adding they’ve evolved and are “very aware of the consequences of their actions.”

In 2024, Georege Gascón, the Los Angeles County District Attorney, asked for both brothers to get a new sentence of 50 years to life in prison, which would make them eligible to get out of jail on parole. While California’s resentencing law errs on the side of defendants, Judge Michael reminded his court that he could block a resentencing only if a defendant poses an “unreasonable risk of danger to public safety,” also known as a fear they would commit another crime.

While many have advocated for Erik and Lyle’s release — especially in the light of Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story, not everyone has been in favor of their release from prison, including District attorney Nathan Hochman.