{"id":107683,"date":"2024-10-31T00:03:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T00:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/menendez-brothers-latest-la-da-to-petition-gov-newsom-for-clemency\/"},"modified":"2024-10-31T00:03:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T00:03:52","slug":"menendez-brothers-latest-la-da-to-petition-gov-newsom-for-clemency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/menendez-brothers-latest-la-da-to-petition-gov-newsom-for-clemency\/","title":{"rendered":"Menendez brothers latest: LA DA to petition Gov. Newsom for clemency"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2024-10-30\/N_erik-lyle-menendez-ht-jt-241024_1729810555444_hpMain_4x3.jpg\" alt><figcaption>CRDC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC\">(LOS ANGELES) &#8212; Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n is supporting the Menendez brothers&#8217; new effort to petition California Gov. Gavin Newsom for clemency, which would reduce their sentence or grant a pardon, ABC News has learned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Gasc\u00f3n plans to submit a letter to that effect by the end of the day Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Lyle and Erik Menendez have <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/menendez-brothers-cautiously-optimistic-released-lawyer\/story?id=115114095\" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spent nearly 35 years in prison<\/a> for the 1989 murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Lyle and Erik Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to two consecutive terms of life without parole.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">While prosecutors alleged they killed their parents for money, the defense argued the brothers acted in self-defense following years of sexual abuse by their father.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Besides the new clemency route, the brothers have two other possible tracks to freedom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">One path is through resentencing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Gasc\u00f3n announced last week that he was recommending the brothers&#8217; sentence of life without the possibility of parole be removed, and they should instead be sentenced for murder, which would be a sentence of 50 years to life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\"><span>Because both brothers were under 26 at the time of the crimes, with the new sentence, they would be eligible for parole immediately, Gasc\u00f3n said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\"><span>&#8220;We appreciate what they did while they were in prison,&#8221; Gasc\u00f3n said at a news conference of the brothers. &#8220;While I disapprove of the way they handled their abuse, we hope that they not only have learned &#8212; which appears that they have &#8212; but that if they get reintegrated into our community, that they continue to do public good.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Gasc\u00f3n&#8217;s recommendation will go before a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, and if the judge agrees, the decision will next be in the hands of a parole board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">The second possible track for release is the habeas corpus petition filed last year for a review of new evidence not presented at trial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">One piece of evidence is allegations from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who is alleging he was sexually abused by music executive Jose Menendez.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">The second piece of evidence is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse. The cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter &#8212; which would have corroborated the cousin&#8217;s testimony &#8212; wasn&#8217;t unearthed until several years ago, according to the brothers&#8217; attorney, Mark Geragos.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy\">Through this petition, the court could reverse the convictions or reopen proceedings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN\">Officials in the DA&#8217;s office told ABC News they are &#8220;keeping an open mind&#8221; to reducing the conviction to a lesser charge based on the new evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CRDC (LOS ANGELES) &#8212; Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n is supporting the Menendez brothers&#8217; new effort to petition California Gov. Gavin Newsom for clemency, which would reduce their sentence or grant a pardon, ABC News has learned. Gasc\u00f3n plans to submit a letter to that effect by the<span class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/menendez-brothers-latest-la-da-to-petition-gov-newsom-for-clemency\/\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107683"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107683\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}