Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón says Erik and Lyle Menendez are not a danger to society as he expects to make a decision about their possible resentencing in the coming days.
“Based on everything that I know, I don’t believe that they are,” Gascón told People this week. “Quite frankly, they probably haven’t been for a very long time, if they ever were. I think this is not like they were going around killing people or robbing people on the street.”
Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, have been serving sentences of life in prison without parole after being convicted in 1996 of the first-degree murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. However, new evidence has surfaced that appears to corroborate the brothers’ claims of sexual abuse at the hands of their father.
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Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón says Erik and Lyle Menendez are not a danger to society. (AP)
Gascón said he’ll decide whether or not to recommend resentencing after meeting with the office’s habeas and resentencing units this week and taking into consideration the “recommendations from both teams.”
“Thirty-five years is a long time to be in prison,” he told People. “Especially when you look at the circumstances behind this case, it just seems to me that at some point there has to be a place for redemption and rehabilitation.”
Gascón announced nearly three weeks ago that his office was reviewing evidence that could lead to a new trial or resentencing for the infamous brothers. Resentencing to a lower-level crime would potentially lead to the brothers’ immediate release.
A number of high profile criminal justice advocates, including Kim Kardashian, have joined with members of the Menendez family in calling for their release.
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Lyle and Erik Menendez appear in court in Beverly Hills in 1991. (AP)
Gascón said earlier this month that his office was not in dispute that the brothers killed their parents in 1989, when they 18 and 21 years old, but that new evidence could change the public perception of the case. They are currently in prison in San Diego.
The case, which was one of the most high-profile of the 1990s, has seen renewed interest following the release of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” on Netflix.
