California Gov. Gavin Newsom took a step closer to his freedom by asking the state committee to assess whether or not the prominent killer should be released.
Newsom ordered the board to conduct a “risk assessment” of the brothers. This is a potential commuting for their sentences, announced Wednesday on his new podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom.”
“The board's questions are simple. Eric and Lyle Menendez, will they raise the current one? Newsom said.
This assessment will help public safety experts and forensic psychologists determine whether their siblings must be loosened more than 30 years after they fired their parents in the living room of the Malibu mansion.
This announcement offers a new way on the brothers' constant and mean path to freedom.
Last Friday, LA District Attorney Nathan Hochman issued a recommendation that LA County Superior Court would deny a request for a retrial of the brothers, due to new evidence that the pair had been abused by their father.
The brother's lawyers also urged the court to downgrade charges from murder to manslaughter.
Lyle and Eric became prominent names in the 90s in two famous trials convicted of murder for the succession money of wealthy music producer Jose Menendez and his wife Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez.
A 2024 Netflix documentary brought them back to the spotlight, and new evidence emerged in support of the brothers' stories, including Eric's letters they dated before the murder.
Members of the Menudo band came forward and claimed that Jose had abused him too.
But the DA's office doubts the truthfulness of the characters and recent explanations, said the newly elected Hoffman, who ran on a tough platform in crime.
