Posted on 11/20/2024 9:25:25 AM PST by Red Badger
Governor Gavin Newsom announced this week that he will delay a decision on clemency for Lyle and Erik Menéndez until the newly elected Los Angeles district attorney reviews their case. Current DA George Gascón recently recommended the brothers be resentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents, arguing they have “paid their debt to society.” He also wrote to Newsom in support of the brothers, who claim they acted in response to years of abuse.
Earlier this month, voters replaced progressive DA Gascón with Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who criticized Gascón’s policies as “pro-criminal.” Newsom’s office stated that the governor will wait for Hochman to review and analyze the Menéndez case before making any clemency decisions.
“The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect [Nathan] Hochman to carry out this responsibility.”
Nathan Hochman criticized George Gascón for the timing of his decision in the Menéndez brothers’ case, calling it a “desperate political move” made just two weeks before the election.
Lyle and Erik Menéndez were convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the 1989 killings of their parents, José and Kitty. The brothers, aged 21 and 18 at the time, shot their parents multiple times as the couple watched television in their Beverly Hills home. Today, Erik is 53 years old, and Lyle is 56.
Prosecutors portrayed Lyle and Erik Menéndez as cold-blooded killers who murdered their parents for financial gain. However, the brothers claimed they acted out of fear, believing their parents were planning to kill them to hide years of sexual, psychological, and physical abuse.
Family members have supported the brothers’ accounts of abuse and have long advocated for their release. In recent years, they have gained a significant following, including prominent criminal justice reform advocates like Kim Kardashian.
In October, George Gascón announced a review of the case following the emergence of new evidence. This included a letter Erik wrote before the killings that supported his claims of abuse and an allegation from a former Menudo band member, who said José Menéndez, a former record executive, had raped him.
Nathan Hochman stated that he looks forward to conducting a thorough review of the facts and legal issues surrounding the Menéndez case.
Tammi Menéndez, Erik’s wife, expressed her frustration on social media over the recent developments.
“It seems like this case is being used for political gain instead of addressing the real issues,” she said.
Hard to believe that Freepers are falling for this bullshit. Seriously, they are cold blooded murderers and deserved the death penalty.
Let justice be served.
Are they dead yet? Until then, justice is NOT served!
ROFLMBO!!!
So... your position is... they couldn't leave because of their devotion to their captors... but they could murder them while they watched TV...
Don't start thinking like a Liberal.
They may have been abused by their father, but they also blew their mother away with a shotgun.
How do they explain that?
“They may have been abused by their father, but they also blew their mother away with a shotgun. How do they explain that?”
It would have been nice to discuss that during the trials in 1996 (first trial took place in 93/94 but ended in jury deadlock). But, alas, the evidence of abuse was not allowed to be used in their defense.
I’m all for justice being served and for the guilty to be punished. However, the Menendez trial wasn’t fair to the accused since evidence was withheld. What would have the outcome been? We will never know. All we do know is that they have served 28 years of their sentence with good behavior and that we now know the aforementioned evidence of abuse should have been included in their trials.. justice isn’t being served by keeping them locked up.
The governor is the head of the Executive branch. The Judicial branch should be handling this!
They murdered their parents. They are still alive. They have not paid their debt to society.
I think the opposite.
“look at me, in 2024 (4 years ago) I didn’t let the Menendex brothers just walk free from a heinous murder. I waited until the new, tough DA came into office”
Really?
Wow.
It’s always a billion years on true crime shows :)
I guess the ones with short sentences would get viewers mad :)
John Wayne Gacy served 18 months of a 10 year sentence for his first two instances of molesting boys...so it does seem justice is not evenly distributed!
The fact they went on a massive spending spree immediately after killing their parents always weighed heavily in my opinion.
The only way they can “pay their debt to society” is to die in prison.
The people who have no brain are the people advocating for their release.
For over twenty years I have heard the refrain of "oh, they are so young! Surely there is some excuse..."
Usually, no.
There are just nasty twisted people in the world and some of them happen to be young and good looking.
OK, thanks.
Newsom wants these orphans to get a fair shake in a new sentence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.