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The District Attorney for Los Angeles County, George Gascón, is poised to reveal his verdict on whether he will advocate for Erik and Lyle Menendez to be released from incarceration, and we are streaming it live.
Gascón has two potential courses of action — he may either petition a judge for a reduced sentence based on time already served or seek to have the murder conviction overturned in favor of a voluntary manslaughter conviction.
In California, the maximum penalty for voluntary manslaughter is 11 years, and the Menendez brothers have already spent close to 35 years behind bars – thus, should the judge take this route, they would be set free.
The press conference on Thursday follows Gascón’s earlier announcement this month where he stated he was reassessing the case after new evidence surfaced — a correspondence Erik sent to his cousin Andy Cano several months before the murders, in which he revealed that his father José was still abusing him.
The case was also revisited after Roy Rosselló— a former member of the group Menudo — alleged that José had sexually assaulted him.
Rosselló’sassertions align with the statements made by Erik and Lyle regarding their father during the original trial. This trial concluded with a hung jury, and a judge halted them from presenting these allegations in their retrial.
4/18/23
NBC
In 1996, both brothers were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the shotgun slayings of their parents in 1989.
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The upcoming court appearance for the brothers is scheduled for November 26 … merely 2 days prior to Thanksgiving — and their family expresses hope that the pair will be able to join in the festivities.
CNN
Last week, over 20 relatives from both sides of their family converged at a press conference, passionately pushing for their freedom.
Conversely, a journalist who covered the initial trial shared with TMZ his belief that the brothers should remain incarcerated indefinitely.
A number of well-known personalities — including Rosie O’Donnell, Kim Kardashian, and the actor who portrayed Erik in the Netflix series ‘Monsters,’ Cooper Koch — have also recently advocated for their release.