Netflix star shows up to support Menendez brothers in their legal bid to get out of jail

Erik and Lyle Menendez have scored a major victory in their bid for freedom after serving 30 years of their life sentences for the brutal shotgun murders of their parents in 1989.

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearings can continue, a Los Angeles judge has ruled, bringing the brothers a step closer to freedom after 30 years behind bars.

On Friday (Saturday AEST) Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic shot down the new district attorney’s bid to withdraw the resentencing request in a major victory for the pair, who were convicted of the shooting murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.

The brothers were aged 18 and 21 at the time.

“Everything you argued today is absolutely fair game for the resentencing hearing next Thursday,” Jesic said.

Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle during a pre-trial hearing, on December 29, 1992 in Los Angeles. Picture: AFP

The murder scene where Jose and Kitty Menendez were brutally gunned down in their Beverley Hills home. Picture: Screengrab/ABC News

At the hearing, District Attorney Nathan Hochman blasted his predecessor George Gascón’s formal petition to resentence the brothers, who were handed life in prison without the possibility of parole at ages 18 and 21 — calling the request an “insane” political ploy that ignored basic facts.

The brothers’ attorney Mark Garagos, however, ripped the DA’s statement as nothing but a “dog and pony show” and condemned the prosecution for showing grizzly crime-scene photos without warning the family members watching from the gallery.

“The DA has assiduously shown that he has no consideration for the victims,” Garagos said.

Erik, Kitty, Jose and Lyle Menendez appeared to be the all-American perfect family. Picture: ABC

In the end, Jesic sided with Garagos, ruling that Hochman’s office had no legally valid reason to yank Gascón’s petition.

The court is scheduled to make its final decision on resentencing after hearings on April 17 and 18.

At those hearings, the brothers and their attorneys will try to convince the court that they have been rehabilitated more than three decades after murdering their wealthy parents in their Malibu mansion, emphasizing the brothers’ claim that the killings were in self-defense against their own parents after years of sexual abuse.

Last October, the former DA asked a judge to change the brothers’ sentence to 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for release under California law because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.

Erik and Lyle Menendez were jailed for life with no possibility of parolel. Picture: California Department of Corrections / AP

Hochman submitted the motion to withdraw that request last month, saying he did not support the brothers’ resentencing because they had not admitted to “lies” they told as the case unfolded about why they killed their parents and did not “fully recognize, acknowledge, and accept complete responsibility” for their crime.

Even if the judge decides not to resentence Erik, 54 and Lyle, 57, California Governor Gavin Newsom may still choose to grant them clemency and allow them to leave jail on parole.

Actor Cooper Koch, who played Lyle Menendez in the Netflix series, believes the brothers killed their parents in self-defence. Picture: Lisa O’Connor / AFP

The state parole board is currently conducting its own hearings and will deliver its final recommendation in June.

Lyle and Erik Menendez became household names in 1989 after they purchased shotguns and killed José Menendez — a wealthy music producer — and his wife Mary Louise “Kitty” in the living room of their Malibu mansion.

The pair tried to pass the killings off as a mob hit and went on a spending spree with their parents’ A$14 million fortune before they were convicted of first-degree murder after two high-profile trials in the ‘90s.

A 2024 Netflix documentary about their case put the brothers back in the spotlight and gained the sympathy of the public who believed the premise of the story that the brothers killed their parents with shotguns fearing their mother and father were plotting to murder the siblings.

As the hit series hit screens, the district attorney’s office revealed new evidence that the brothers had been molested, including a letter from Erik to a cousin, dated before the murders, describing the sexual abuse.

Actor Cooper Koch, who played Erik in the series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” attended the hearing in support of the brothers.

Supporters said the brothers acted in self-defence, terrified of their parents’ rage after years of sexual and emotional abuse by a tyrannical father and a complicit mother.

Earlier in court on Friday, Hochman said the pair should remain behind bars because they had never accepted their guilt and continued to rely on untruths.

“In looking at whether or not the Menendezes have exhibited the full insight and complete responsibility for their crimes, they have not,” Hochman told reporters.

“They have told 20 different lies, they’ve actually admitted to four of them, but 16 realised lies remain unacknowledged.”

Deputy DA Habib Balain told the court the brothers “sold the story their parents were violent and wanted to kill them.”

But he claimed that, if that was the case, it would have made more sense for them to have bought handguns for self defence, rather than shotguns.

This story was originally published in The New York Post

Originally published as Netflix star shows up to support Menendez brothers in their legal bid to get out of jail