After greater than three a long time behind bars, Erik Menendez has formally been denied parole.
The 54-year-old appeared earlier than the California parole board on Thursday, August 21, the place the choice was made to maintain him in jail. In the meantime, his brother and codefendant, Lyle Menendez, will face his personal parole listening to on Friday, August 22, leaving his future unsure.
Following the ruling, Erik’s household shared their disappointment in an announcement. “Whereas we respect the choice, at the moment’s end result was in fact disappointing and never what we hoped for,” family mentioned in a ready assertion, in response to NewsNation. “However our perception in Erik stays unwavering and we all know he’ll take the Board’s suggestion in stride. His regret, development, and the optimistic affect he’s had on others communicate for themselves. We are going to proceed to face by him and maintain to the hope he is ready to return residence quickly.”
Earlier this week, the Menendez brothers’ longtime lawyer, Mark Geragos, spoke about how the parole course of works. “It’s a really interactive expertise, it’s very sturdy and one thing folks don’t notice: The parole board members that day will retire, deliberate and decide every day,” Geragos defined throughout an look on NewsNation’s Cuomo. “I might anticipate a call on each of them individually, sequentially, and hopefully it’ll be a call that provides them their freedom after virtually 36 years.”
Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez.
Geragos argued that each brothers are prepared for launch, including that Erik and Lyle are “fascinating, intriguing and deserving of getting parole,” earlier than insisting, “They each must be out.”
The brothers’ case has fascinated the general public for many years. Erik and Lyle admitted to killing their dad and mom, José and Kitty Menendez, contained in the household’s Beverly Hills mansion in August 1989. On the time, they have been simply 18 and 21 years previous. Throughout their trials, the siblings claimed they acted in self-defense after enduring years of abuse, however prosecutors satisfied jurors in any other case. In 1996, each have been convicted of first-degree homicide and sentenced to life in jail with out parole.
Curiosity within the Menendez case was reignited in 2024, following the discharge of a Netflix documentary and dramatized collection. The renewed highlight prompted former Los Angeles District Lawyer George Gascón to advocate that the brothers be resentenced. In Could, a choose agreed to cut back their punishment to 50 years to life, making them eligible for parole for the primary time in a long time.
However not everybody believes the brothers must be freed. Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles’ present district lawyer, strongly opposed their launch on the eve of their hearings.
“The Menendez brothers have by no means totally accepted accountability for the horrific murders of their dad and mom, as an alternative persevering with to advertise a false narrative of self-defense that was rejected by the jury a long time in the past,” Hochman mentioned on Wednesday, August 20. “We now have constantly opposed their launch as a result of they haven’t demonstrated full perception into their crimes or proven that they’ve been totally rehabilitated, and due to this fact proceed to pose a threat to society. We are going to consider our last place primarily based on the proof offered on the listening to.”
Hochman additionally pushed again in opposition to the concept that documentaries or renewed public curiosity ought to play any position within the case. “Whereas latest documentaries and movies have drawn renewed consideration to this case, parole selections have to be primarily based solely on the information and the legislation,” he mentioned. “This case, like all instances — particularly those who captivate the general public — have to be seen with a crucial eye. Justice ought to by no means be swayed by spectacle.”
