Erik and Lyle Menendez. Getty Images(2)
As Lyle and Erik Menéndez‘s new hearing approaches, do the brothers have any set plans amid the possibility of their release from prison?
Their attorney Mark Geragos spoke with Us Weekly and other reporters at a press conference held by the Menéndez family on Wednesday, October 16, saying, “I won’t speak to whether [Erik and Lyle] have a plan. I just think that in order to get through each day, you’ve got to just ground yourself.”
Geragos noted that Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, are aware of just how difficult the transition would be for them, adding, “It’s a long road from life without [parole] for almost 17 years to being hopeful.”
Erik and Lyle’s legal counsel went on to clarify whether they are expecting a new trial or for the siblings to be released.
“We filed originally for the conviction to be overturned. That’s what a writ of habeas corpus is. The other component of this is a resentence. So it’s two tracks,” Geragos explained. “You can pause the habeas while you consider the resentencing. So it’s walking and chewing gum at the same time.”
He continued: “If the habeas would be granted, you would get a new trial. If they are resentenced, the judge under California law has the ability to recall the sentence and sentence it to a wide range of options.”
Geragos seemed optimistic about the outcome of the hearing, which is set for Tuesday, November 26.
“We may release it tomorrow but part of the mitigation package that we presented to the District Attorney in Los Angeles are letters from correctional officers — high ranking correctional officers — who attest to the phenomenal rehabilitation,” he revealed. “We have a number of correctional officers who have actually said if released, Erik and Lyle should be released and that they would welcome them as neighbors.”
Erik and Lyle were originally arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder after their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, were found dead in their own home. Two subsequent trials resulted in Erik and Lyle’s conviction and a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The brothers, meanwhile, have maintained that their mother and father were physically, emotionally and sexually abusive and that their actions were that of self-defense.
The murder case has since gained renewed attention after Lyle and Erik got public support from reality star Kim Kardashian. Their experience was also dramatized for Ryan Murphy‘s Netflix series Monsters, in which Nicholas Alexander Chavez brought Lyle to life while Erik was played by Cooper Koch. José and Kitty, meanwhile, were portrayed by Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny, respectively.
Murphy has since pointed out how his show created renewed interest in Erik and Lyle — despite their disapproval over how they were portrayed.
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“They are now being talked about by millions of people all over the world. There’s a documentary coming out in two weeks about them, also on Netflix. And I think the interesting thing about it is it’s asking people to answer the questions, ‘Should they get a new trial? Should they be let out of jail? What happens in our society? Should people be locked away for life? Is there no chance ever at rehabilitation?’” he told Variety in September. “I’m interested in that, and a lot of people are talking about it. We’re asking really difficult questions, and it’s giving these brothers another trial in the court of public opinion. From what I can tell, it’s really opened up the possibility that this evidence that they claim that they have, maybe that there is going to be a way forward for them.”
Erik and Lyle were granted a new hearing for their case one month later after the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office cited new evidence, including a newly discovered letter Erik wrote to his cousin Andy Cano describing his father’s alleged sexual abuse months before the murders and singer Roy Rosselló‘s allegations against José.
With reporting by Mariel Turner