DA says Menendez brothers have shown "exceptional" conduct in prison, resentencing docs show

In court filings recommending their resentencing, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office described the conduct of the Menendez brothers as "exceptional" in the more than 30 years they have served behind bars for murdering their parents.

"Erik and Lyle Menendez' positive transformation, as well as their ability to find meaning and purpose from their current confinement illustrate just how much circumstances have changed since the time they were sentenced to Life Without Parole," the court filings state, detailing reports on their work, behavior and educational pursuits within prison walls.

On March 20, 1996, a jury found the brothers guilty of first-degree murder for shooting to death their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, as the couple sat on a couch at their Beverly Hills home in August 1989. The brothers had confessed to killing their parents but said they did so in self-defense, alleging they were sexually and physically abused for years. Prosecutors argued the slayings were motivated by greed. They were ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

The second trial had followed an earlier mistrial, when they jury failed to reach a verdict.

With the case gaining renewed attention in recent weeks, District Attorney George Gascón announced Thursday that he is recommending resentencing for the brothers, calling for a sentence of 50 years to life. A judge would make the final decision. 

"I believe they have paid their debt to society," he told reporters this week.

Gascón has said that resentencing would largely depend on their progress while in prison. Meanwhile, the other potential route to an early release — a habeas corpus petition filed last year by their attorneys — seeks a review of the case based on new evidence.

Several family members pleaded for their release during a news conference in Los Angeles last week, addressing what they described as horrific abuse at the hands of their father as well as rehabilitative efforts they have made while behind bars.

"Lyle and Erik have already paid a heavy price, discarded by a system that failed to recognize their pain," their aunt and sister of their mother, Joan VanderMolen, said. "They have grown. They have changed. And they have become better men despite everything that they've been through." 

Meanwhile, at least one of their relatives has spoken against their potential release. Milton Andersen, their uncle and brother of Kitty Menendez, filed an amicus brief in the case arguing against them being freed. "The evidence remains overwhelmingly clear: the jury's verdict was just, and the punishment fits the heinous crime," reads a statement from his attorney, Kathy Cady.

At the time of the murders, Lyle and Erik were 21 and 18 years old. Today, they are 56 and 54.

The resentencing paperwork filed by Gascón's office cites statements from their relatives backing their allegations of abuse as well as documents such as probation and work reports tracking their progress behind bars. In a Los Angeles County Probation Officer's report from 1996, their aunt and sister of their father, Marta Menendez-Cano, was quoted as saying: "When Erik was 12, he was beaten by his father for suspicion of telling Lyle about the sexual abuse that was going on between him and his father."

The court filings state that she alleged that Jose Menendez once sat down Erik and her son, Andy Cano, to watch an "educational video" which turned out to be pornography. Andy Cano had testified in court that Erik told him about the alleged abuse.

While Andy Cando has since passed away, a letter Erik allegedly wrote to him apparently referencing the allegations has been cited as one of two pieces of potential new evidence. The other is a rape allegation Roy Rosselló, former member of the boy band Menudo, against Jose Menendez, once an executive at RCA Records which signed the band in the 1980s.

The resentencing paperwork also mentions Erik Menendez' acceptance into UC Irvine last year and associate's degrees he's received in fields of sociology as well as social and behavioral sciences, in addition to his founding of support groups such as a meditation program for inmates. 

The court documents indicate that Lyle Menendez graduated from UC Irvine with a bachelor of arts degree last year and founded the Greenspace Project, which has raised more than $250,000 and brought together inmates, including his brother, in painting murals and landscaping. He also founded the Adverse Childhood Experience and Rehabilitation (ACER) program in 2016, according to the court filings.

"It is important to note that Lyle Menendez has not been in a single fight in the 20 years he has been incarcerated. In 1997, he had to be moved from General Population to the Special Needs Yard because he wouldn't fight back when attacked," the filings state.

More than 300 people have been resentenced under the leadership of DA Gascón, who was sworn into office in December 2020.