Erik and Lyle Menendez resentencing hearing to begin in Los Angeles
Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills, are scheduled for a hearing on Thursday that could determine whether they are eligible for reduced sentences and a potential path to parole after more than 30 years behind bars.
Coverage for this event has ended.
The Menendez brothers' bid for freedom was cut off short Thursday, with Friday's proceedings canceled.
Attorneys and the judge will meet May 9 to discuss next steps after the planned two-day resentencing was called off.
Erik was visibly annoyed and Lyle was emotionless as their bid for freedom was pushed back.
The brothers' defense team chose not to go forward with testimony in the resentencing hearing, and instead plans to file for the recusal of District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
A recusal motion requests that the individual steps away from a case because of a potential conflict of interest or bias that prevents them from operating impartially.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
The Menendez brothers' defense attorney accused District Attorney Nathan Hochman of repeatedly disrespecting and traumatizing the brothers’ extended family.
"He has abused the victims privately, he has abused the victims publicly,” attorney Mark Geragos said Thursday, referencing an incident the previous Friday when graphic crime scene photos were unexpectedly displayed in court.
“You were all here when they flashed grisly crime scene photos on the screen,” he told reporters. “It took me a second—normally it would be the DA who jumps up and objects to that. Instead, it fell upon the defense to do so.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Hochman's office for comment.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
The Menendez brothers’ defense team faced a potential setback Thursday as the District Attorney’s office launched a last-minute legal maneuver aimed at delaying the resentencing hearing.
The potential setback centered on District Attorney Nathan Hochman filing a conditional motion to postpone the resentencing hearing, citing the need to review newly completed psychological evaluations.
According to court documents, filed on April 16, just one day before the high-stakes hearing, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office requested that the hearing be delayed until the court obtains copies of the Comprehensive Risk Assessment (CRA) for the brothers that were completed by state prison and parole officers.
Judge Michael Jesic emphasized the importance of accessing the CRA reports from the Governor’s Office on Lyle and Erik Menendez before moving forward.
“There’s no way I’m going to make a decision this week without knowing what’s in those reports,” he said.
Defense attorney, Mark Geragos, warned that if the resentencing hearings were delayed further, he would move to recuse the District Attorney’s Office from the case.
Deputy District Attorney Habib Bailan said that the CRA report on the brothers is "a piece of the puzzle" about whether they are rehabilitated.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Newsom's office for comment.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
The resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez is being held at the Van Nuys Courthouse in Los Angeles, where a judge is set to determine whether the brothers, convicted in the 1989 murders of their parents, could be eligible for parole after more than three decades behind bars. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Defense attorney Mark Geragos launched a sharp critique of the prosecution’s conduct as the resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez began on Thursday.
Geragos accused District Attorney Nathan Hochman of harboring personal bias due to his background—specifically, attending Beverly Hills High School and growing up in the same community where the 1989 murders occurred.
Geragos invoked Marsy’s Law, which protects victims’ rights, claiming it was violated when graphic crime scene images were shown in court last week. He said Anamaria Baralt, the brothers’ cousin, had never seen those photos in 35 years until they were unexpectedly displayed on Friday.
He condemned the prosecution’s tactics as a “dog and pony show,” saying: “None of these shenanigans would have happened if this wasn’t the Menendez brothers.”
Lyle appeared visibly fidgety, while Erik, seated beside him, grew emotional, eventually burying his face in his hands. The two sat side-by-side on the livestream.
Judge Michael Jesic responded by acknowledging the severity of the images shown, stating that although he has become "numb" to homicide photos after years in his occupation, he took the responsibility for allowing them to be presented.
“I would not want my family to see these images,” Jesic said.
He also defended Deputy DA Habib Balian, saying he had known him for years and believed there was no ill intent in showing the photos, though he admitted the situation was complex.
Defense attorney Ben Friedman argued, “It’s not about the murder—it’s about what they’ve done in the last 35 years.”
Jesic agreed on the complexity, noting, “It’s so complicated. Stuff is going to come out that’s upsetting to the family, but it’s necessary in the scope of things.”
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Though the hearing has yet to begin, Lyle and Erik Menendez appeared via livestream from prison, seated against a stark white wall.
Erik wore a plain blue prison-issued crewneck, while Lyle appeared in a blue button-down.
Lyle, 57, and Erik, 54, were 21 and 18, respectively, when they murdered their parents in 1989. The Menendez brothers’ sentencing hearing is set to begin today at 9:30 a.m. in Los Angeles, Calif. The hearing is expected to last through Friday.
Fox News' Melissa Chrise contributed to this report.
Menendez brothers, Erik, left, and Lyle on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November, 1989. (Ronald L. Soble / Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman says he does not support the resentencing of Lyle and Erik Menendez, brothers who have spent more than 30 years in prison for killing their parents at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
The brothers were convicted and sentenced in 1996, but have argued that they committed the crimes in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.
Before leaving office, previous district attorney George Gascón said reexamining the case was appropriate given a renewed understanding of and empathy for sexual abuse victims.
Here’s a look at the timeline of the case:
August 1989: Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records in Los Angeles, and his wife Kitty Menendez, are shot and killed in their Beverly Hills mansion.
March 1990: Lyle Menendez, then 21, is arrested. Eighteen-year-old Erik Menendez turns himself in a few days later. They are accused of first-degree murder.
July 1993: The Menendez brothers go on trial, each with a separate jury. Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ attorneys don't dispute the pair killed their parents, but argued that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.
January 1994: Both juries deadlock.
October 1995: The brothers' retrial begins, this time with a single jury. Much of the defense evidence about alleged sexual abuse is excluded during the second trial.
March 1996: Jurors convict both brothers of first-degree murder.
July 1996: The brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
May 2023: Attorneys for the Menendez brothers ask the court to reconsider the conviction and sentence in light of new evidence from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who said he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14. In addition, they submit a letter that Erik wrote about his father's abuse prior to the killings.
September 2024: Netflix releases the crime drama " Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, " a nine-episode series about the killings.
Oct. 4, 2024: Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in the case.
Oct. 16, 2024: Multiple generations of family members of the Menendez brothers hold a news conference pleading for their release from prison. The relatives say the jurors who sentenced them to life without parole in 1996 were part of a society that was not ready to hear that boys could be raped.
Oct. 24, 2024: Prosecutors schedule a news conference to announce their decision on whether to recommend resentencing.
Nov. 18, 2024: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he would not decide on granting the brothers clemency until after the newly elected district attorney has a chance to review the case.
Nov. 25, 2024: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge holds a hearing regarding the request for resentencing but says he needs more time to make a decision, pushing it back to Jan. 30 and 31 instead of Dec. 11 as originally planned.
Dec. 3, 2024: Nathan Hochman is sworn into office as the new district attorney of LA County.
Jan. 17, 2025: Due to the fires in the LA region, Hochman pushes the resentencing hearing back to March 20 and 21.
Feb. 21, 2025: Hochman says his office will oppose a new trial for the Menendez brothers. He cast doubt on the evidence of sexual abuse, including the letter Erik wrote to his cousin about his father’s abuse, and said it was not pertinent to the case.
Feb. 26, 2025: California Gov. Gavin Newsom orders the state parole board to conduct a “comprehensive risk assessment” to determine whether the brothers have been rehabilitated and if they would pose a danger to the public if released.
March 10, 2025: Hochman says his office won’t support resentencing the brothers because they have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman speaks during a news conference about the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez, in Los Angeles, California on March 10, 2025. The brothers were jailed for life after a blockbuster legal drama in the 1990s detailing the gruesome 1989 slayings of Jose and Kitty Menendez at the family's luxury Beverly Hills mansion. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP)
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman argued that the Menendez brothers should remain behind bars, saying that they haven't “fully come clean” in the 1989 murder of their parents.
“We believe and the California courts confirm that, in order for someone to be rehabilitated, they need to fully come clean with the entire breadth of their criminal conduct,” Hochman told reporters Thursday prior to the high-stakes hearing. “In this case, the Menendez brothers, for the past 30 years, have not come clean with that information.”
Defense for Erik and Lyle Menendez will reportedly highlight their rehabilitation efforts and self-help group attendance as the brothers, who are currently serving life in prison, make a bid for a lesser sentence.
“For instance, they have perpetrated the lie, a lie of self-defense,” Hochman added. “It wasn't their original story. It was actually their fourth story on why they brutally killed their parents.”
Menendez brothers Attorney Mark Geragos speaks to the press prior to a hearing on Erik and Lyle Menendez case at the Van Nuys Courthouse on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
The Menendez brothers' defense attorney, Mark Geragos, told reporters he does not expect the judge to accept the prosecution’s filing to delay the hearing.
“I think it’s appalling, for lack of a better term, how the DA has treated this case,” Geragos told reporters outside the Los Angeles courthouse.
“I don’t know why in this case this particular DA...has decided he has some other interest to vindicate that has nothing to do with the victims,” he said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Los Angeles District Attorney's office for comment.
LA DA Nathan Hochman and the Menendez Brothers (Getty Images)
Prosecutors in the Menendez brothers’ case have filed a conditional motion to postpone today’s highly anticipated resentencing hearing, citing the need to review newly completed psychological evaluations.
According to court documents, filed on April 16, just one day before the high-stakes hearing, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office requested that the hearing be delayed until the court obtains copies of comprehensive risk assessments for the brothers that were completed by state prison and parole officers.
The district attorney's office argued that the new reports contain critical, updated information about the brothers’ rehabilitation and potential risk to the public—details the court should evaluate before making any decisions on resentencing.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman and three deputy prosecutors argued that relying solely on past risk assessments would be “unfair to the parties and the Court.”
Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom's office told Fox News in response that the comprehensive risk assessment is ongoing and will be completed on June 13, 2025.
Per California legal regulations, one component of it has been released to the involved parties for their review 60 days before the clemency hearing and is subject to correction, his office said. Newsom's office said it notified Judge Michael Jesic of the status of this report, which is not a stand-alone risk assessment, and offered to share it with the court if he requests it.
It was not immediately clear if the DA's filing would affect Thursday's hearing, which is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. local time.
Fox News Digital's Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
Family members of Lyle and Erik Menendez were seen arriving at the Van Nuys Courthouse in Los Angeles on Thursday, showing their support as the brothers face a resentencing hearing.
Among them were their cousins Anamaria Baralt and Tamara Goodall, both of whom have been outspoken advocates for the brothers’ release. They’ve expressed pride in the Menendez brothers’ rehabilitation and remain hopeful for a favorable outcome.
Their aunt, Terry Baralt, a longtime supporter, was notably absent due to a recent medical emergency. She was found unresponsive in a hotel room on April 13 and remains in critical condition. According to the family, her hospitalization was triggered by the emotional toll of seeing graphic crime scene images during an earlier court proceeding.
The majority of the brothers’ extended family support the resentencing effort, with more than 20 relatives publicly advocating for their release.
Milton Andersen, the older brother of Kitty Menendez was a vocal opponent of the brothers' release. He rejected their abuse claims and believed the murders were financially motivated. Andersen died from cancer in March 2025 at 91, just weeks before the resentencing hearing.
This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Dept. of Corrections via AP, File)
The Menendez brothers will appear in Los Angeles court at 9:30 a.m. local time for their resentencing hearing.
Erik and Lyle Menendez – who are serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez – are fighting to be released after 35 years behind bars.
In a filing late Wednesday, prosecutors urged the court to obtain a copy of a recently completed risk assessment conducted on the brothers by the California Board of Parole Hearings at the request of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The filing by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office urges the judge to delay the sentencing if the court cannot get a copy of the report in time for the hearing.
The status of that filing is still unclear.
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