LA District Attorney Announces Decision in Menendez Murder Case – NBC Los Angeles

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will announce Thursday afternoon whether it will recommend resentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 1996 for the 1996 murders of Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez.

District Attorney George Gascón had said his office would review the case to determine whether the Menendez brothers' sentences could be reduced based on new evidence and the determination that the brothers did not pose a threat to society.

The district attorney was scheduled to meet with reporters Friday afternoon to discuss the case of Erik Menendez, now 53, and Lyle Menendez, now 56, who remain behind bars at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

The NBC4 I-Team confirmed that prosecutors have filed a new 21-page document related to the Menendez case, which Gascón is expected to discuss during a live press conference Thursday afternoon.

What is taken into account during the review?

A new piece of evidence being examined by prosecutors involves a letter Erik Menendez wrote to a cousin about the sexual assault before the murders were committed.

Gascón's office also said in a signed statement from a member of the popular 1980s Puerto Rican boy band Menudo that it considered that he, too, had been sexually abused by José Menendez.

The district attorney also said he would consider early release of the brothers, who began serving their sentences at a young age.

The prosecutor had said a hearing was scheduled for Nov. 29, but he said in an interview that he decided to expedite the trial because the Menendez brothers' case had attracted significant public attention, much of it focused on a Netflix series and a social media movement.

A group of family members who supported the brothers also called for the brothers' release from state prison earlier this month.

At an Oct. 16 news conference outside the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles, Kitty Menendez's sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen, said she had struggled for many years “to come to terms with what happened in my sister's family.”

Resistance to possible resentencing

Critics said Gascón was trying to gain media attention through the nationwide case ahead of the November election.

“LA County District Attorney George Gascón has once again demonstrated his opportunism,” the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys said in a statement. “During his disastrous tenure as prosecutor, Gascón has consistently prioritized celebrity cases over the rights of crime victims and shown more interest in being in the spotlight than in pursuing justice.”

A September poll showed Gascon trailing challenger Nathan Hochman by 24 points.

Gascón said he is more open to “reviewing things that other prosecutors may not review.”

The Beverly Hills Police Department, which was the investigating agency at the time of the killings, also said it had not been contacted by the DA's office about the new developments.