Lyle and Erik Menéndez received a new hearing, but they’re staying realistic about the possibility of being released from prison.
“I think to say they’re cautiously optimistic is probably the best way to put it,” Lyle and Erik’s attorney, Mark Geragos, told Entertainment Tonight on Thursday, October 10. “They understand patience.”
The attorney, 67, noted that it has been a “long” wait for Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, to get any updates after previous attempts to appeal their life sentences.
“We are going on month 18,” he added before sharing his thoughts on the upcoming hearing. “I hope to celebrate Thanksgiving with them.”
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Erik and Lyle are both currently serving out their sentences of life without parole in California’s Donovan Correctional Facility after being arrested in 1990 on two counts of first-degree murder. They became persons of interest after their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, were found shot in their home. Due to a confession they gave their therapist — which they didn’t realize was being taped — Erik and Lyle ultimately admitted to killing their parents following years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The Menéndez brothers were ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole in 1996 after two high-profile trials. While their prior attempts to appeal the decision were denied, recent projects such as Monsters, The Menéndez Brothers and more have seemingly offered Erik and Lyle another chance at a resentencing.
“I think Monsters had unintended consequences. The caricature that was Monsters so inflamed the people who were supportive that the backlash is what was important,” Geragos said, referring to Ryan Murphy‘s scripted show about the murder case, which received criticism from viewers and Erik himself. “I can’t think of two more exemplary people with very little hope who still continue to do massively good work.”
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One month after the release of Monsters, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced on October 4 that a new hearing was set due to new evidence in Lyle and Erik’s murder case. Erik and Lyle’s legal team previously filed a petition with the court after singer Roy Rosselló alleged he was drugged and raped by the brothers’ father, José, as a teenager.
Gascón said in the press conference that there could be potential for resentencing or possibly even a new trial. The court date is set for Tuesday, November 26.
The Menéndez brothers recently got the chance to share their perspective three decades after they were originally arrested in Netflix’s The Menéndez Brothers.
“I do worry and I think it is important that the seriousness of my crime not be minimized or diminished,” Erik said in the documentary, which was released on Monday, October 7. “I went to the only person that had ever helped me and that had ever protected me. Then ultimately this happened because of me. Because I went to him. Then afterwards, he was arrested because of me. Because I couldn’t live with what I did, I couldn’t. I wanted to die. In a way, I did not protect Lyle. I got him into every aspect of this tragedy. Every aspect of this tragedy is my fault.”
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His older brother, meanwhile, got emotional about not being able to protect their family.
“For me, I never could escape that night. That night just floods back into your mind a lot,” Lyle noted in the doc. “I never found understanding. I sometimes feel like I rescued Erik. But did I? Look at his life now. It feels impossible that I couldn’t do better. I couldn’t rescue all of us.”
