Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has decided on two requests for clemency for Erik and Joseph “Lyle” Menendez. Erik and Lyle are brothers from Beverly Hills who are serving life in prison without the chance of parole for killing their parents in 1989.
He will wait until the new Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman has time to look over the case. This is to respect the will of the voters who got rid of the far-left progressive George Gascon on Election Day, he said.
“The Governor respects the role of the District Attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” Newsom’s office said in a note.
“The Governor will defer to the DA-elect’s review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”
Hochman, who was a federal prosecutor and assistant U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush, told Fox News Digital in the past that he would not make a decision until he was “thoroughly familiar” with all the facts of the case.
“I will have to review the confidential prison files for each brother, the transcripts from both trials, and speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel, and the victims’ family members,” he said after his election day win.
“Then I will be able to decide.” If I need more time for some reason, I will ask the court for it.”
The resentencing hearing for the Menendez brothers was asked for by Gascon just days before he lost his re-election bid. It is set for Dec. 11.
“Once I take office on December 3, I look forward to putting in the hard work to thoroughly review the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison files, the transcripts of the two trials, and the voluminous exhibits as well as speaking with the prosecutors, defense attorneys and victim family members,” Hochman said.
“This is the same type of rigorous analysis I have done throughout my 34-year career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense counsel, and the same type of thorough review that I will give to all cases regardless of media attention.”
Because they were found guilty a second time in 1996 of killing their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, with a shotgun in their living room, the brothers have been locked up for life without the chance of parole. The first one ended in a mistrial a few years ago.
They said they killed their dad out of fear that he would kill them after they told him they would go public with the fact that he abused children. As they began to shoot from behind, their mom was sitting next to him, eating ice cream and watching TV.
Twenty-two family members, including Kitty’s sister Joan Andersen VanderMolen, 92, have spoken out in favor of the brothers’ freedom.
But her 90-year-old brother Milton Andersen is still strongly against clemency and says he does not believe the abuse claims against Jose.
Hochman could pick up where Gascon left off and ask for the resentencing, ask the judge to withdraw the previous administration’s resentencing request, or file more briefs to give the judge more information to think about as the court deals with the case.
Gascon told reporters that the case would be reviewed by several people, including the judge, the parole board, and finally Newsom. A few days later, he asked the governor to skip all of those steps and immediately release the brothers.
If Hochman’s office keeps trying to change the sentence, Newsom still has the final say.
If the brothers’ sentences are cut down to a level that would allow them to get parole, the governor can overturn the parole board’s decision. He could also forgive or clemency someone on his own.
There is also a separate habeas corpus petition going through the court. If successful, this would be another way to get freedom.
Their petition is based on new evidence that backs up their claims that their father abused them as a child: a letter that backs up their claims that he did, but its origin is unknown; and the word of Roy Rosello, a former Menudo member who said that Jose Menendez had abused him too as a child.
It does not look like their lawyer will be able to get them home for Thanksgiving.