Judge Repeatedly Sentences Menendez Brothers: This Gave Them the Right to Parole
Kyiv • UNN
A judge in the US has reduced the sentence of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of their parents. Now they are eligible for parole after 30 years behind bars.
A judge in Los Angeles, USA, has reduced the sentences of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences for the murders of their parents in a mansion in Beverly Hills in 1989, giving them the right to parole, UNN writes with reference to the BBC.
Details
Judge Michael Jessick re-sentenced the brothers to 50 years to life. The decision on their possible release must be made by the State Parole Board, which will hold a hearing on the case next month.
The district attorney fiercely opposed a lighter sentence, saying the brothers had not been rehabilitated. The Menendez brothers claimed they killed Kitty and Jose Menendez in self-defense after years of sexual abuse.
The case, which has been the subject of books and documentaries, continues to divide many Americans.
After the judge agreed to re-sentence them on Tuesday afternoon, the brothers made an emotional statement in court.
They recounted the grim details of the brutal murders and their decision to reload their shotguns and continue shooting their parents at close range in the living room of their home. At the time, the brothers and sisters were 18 and 21 years old.
"I had to stop being selfish and immature to truly understand what my parents went through in those last moments," said Erik Menendez, 54.
He described the "shock, bewilderment and betrayal" they must have felt seeing their sons holding guns and opening fire.
Both apologized for their actions and spoke of their hopes of working with victims of sexual abuse and helping prisoners if they were given a second chance at freedom.
Lyle Menendez, 57, choked up as he spoke of the impact of his "unfathomable" actions on their relatives.
"I lied to you and exposed you to public humiliation," he told his family.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the decision to re-sentence the pair was "monumental" and had "significant implications for the families involved."
Most of the hearing focused on what the brothers had been doing in prison for the past 30 years.
Family members and those who worked with them in prison recounted in detail the educational courses they had taken and the programs they had created to improve the lives of inmates, including a hospice initiative for the elderly and infirm.
Judge Jessick called the brothers' work in prison "excellent" but noted that their 1996 sentences to life in prison without parole were justified at the time.
He said that under the guidelines they were eligible for re-sentencing, handing down a new sentence of 50 years to life. The brothers have been in custody since 1990.