Erik and Lyle Menendez were resentenced yesterday, making them eligible for parole. This comes after they’ve served 35 years in prison for killing th
Erik and Lyle Menendez were resentenced yesterday, making them eligible for parole. This comes after they’ve served 35 years in prison for killing their parents.
“This was an absolutely horrific crime,” Judge Michael V. Jesic said while giving his ruling, adding that he was nevertheless impressed by letters written on the brothers’ behalf by corrections officials. The judge did not recommend that the brothers be freed, saying, “That’s not for me to decide.” However, he also said, “I do believe they have done enough over the last 35 years to get that chance.”
LA County DA Nathan Hochman had opposed the Menendez brothers’ resentencing and possibility of being released from prison, saying that they had “failed to come clean with the full extent of their criminal conduct.” But Jesic reduced Erik and Lyle’s former sentence (which was life in prison without the possibility of parole) and laid the groundwork for their potential release. During the court proceedings, both Erik and Lyle took responsibility for their crimes, with the latter reading a statement that said, in part, “I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification.” He added that he made the “choice to reload, return to the den, and run up to my mother and shoot her in the head.”
In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, one of the brothers’ attorneys, Michael Romano, who’s also the director and founder of the Three Strikes Project at Stanford Law School, talks about the significance of what happened in court yesterday—and what we can expect going forward.
Vanity Fair: We all just heard about the decision. The brothers were hoping for voluntary manslaughter, which would have meant they could be released right away, but the judge didn’t do that. What did they say after the hearing?
Michael Romano: So Lyle, immediately afterwards, said, “We’re humbled, deeply humbled, grateful, and happy for our family.” Erik was standing right next to him, and they were like, What should we say? What should we say? So they composed that line together, but Lyle actually uttered the words.
How did they sound?
They sounded elated. Relieved. This has been incredibly stressful to them. You know, you think we’re interested, but it’s their lives. I think in some ways, this is like, Okay, now we can take a breath. I mean, obviously everybody wants to be freed immediately. But I think it’s an incredible relief.
Why do you think Judge Jesic said it wasn’t up to him whether they should be released?
I disagree with him. The legislature has given him the power to do this and to make that determination, and I think he could have and should have. Judges have no problem saying, “The appropriate punishment [here] is 10 years or 20 years”—or life, or whatever it happens to be on day one. I think they’re just as qualified to evaluate the justice of their punishment on day 2,000.
Erik and Lyle will now face parole boards. How much weight will the boards’ recommendation have?
Governor [Gavin] Newsom has to rule. Even if the board said they should be released immediately, the governor could still take as long as he wants to actually release them. He could release them right then, the next day, whenever he wants. We assume that if the parole board says that they recommend their release, he will follow that, but he does not have to.
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