(The Center Square) – Resentencing hearings for murderers Erik and Lyle Menendez have been set for Tuesday and Wednesday despite objections from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
During a hearing Friday in a Van Nuys courtroom, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic set the hearing dates, which will also be in Van Nuys, a city outside Los Angeles.
And Jesic on Friday rejected District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s request to withdraw the resentencing petition filed in October by his predecessor, former District Attorney George Gascón.
Jesic, who ruled in April to go ahead with the resentencing hearings, said he saw nothing new that would make him cancel them, according to various media covering the hearings.
Also at Friday’s hearing, defense attorney Mark Geragos withdrew his request to bar the entire District Attorney’s Office from the hearings. The lawyer for the Menendez brothers previously accused the district attorney of bias against his clients.
Since their 1996 conviction for the 1989 murders of their parents Kitty and Jose Menendez, the Menendez brothers have been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at a San Diego prison. The brothers contended they killed their parents in self-defense after Lyle Menendez confronted their father about allegedly sexually abusing Erik.
Gascón said in October that the Menendez brothers’ rehabilitative progress had been reviewed and petitioned the court to reduce their sentence to 50 years with the possibility of parole. If that happened, they could be released.
But since taking office in December, Hochman has argued the two men, now in their 50s, have failed to take responsibility for the murders at the family’s Beverly Hills home. The district attorney, who was elected in November, has accused the brothers of lying about their claims of self-defense.
Hochman also said he can’t support resentencing because of the preliminary results of a forensic psychologist’s risk assessment for the brothers.
The report said Lyle Menendez broke prison rules by having a cellphone and that Erik Menendez communicated with someone outside of prison with his cellphone, traded drugs and committed tax fraud, according to TMZ.
Geragos told Mesic Friday that the brothers have been rehabilitated since their 1996 conviction and during their 30 years in prison.
The Menendez brothers are waiting for the full results of the risk assessment, which Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered to help him determine whether to grant clemency, which is a separate matter from the resentencing. The final hearing on the risk assessment is set for June 13.
Most of the extended Menendez family have said they forgive Erik and Lyle Menendez.