L.A. County District Attorney Supports Erik and Lyle Menendez's Request for Clemency from Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom

Mar. 15, 2025

George Gascón and the Menendez Brothers.Photo:Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty; AP Photo/Nick Ut

Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty; AP Photo/Nick Ut

Los Angeles County District AttorneyGeorge GascónsupportsErikandLyle Menendez’s request for clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Gascón said on Wednesday, Oct. 20.Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, areserving life sentenceswithout parole for the1989 shotgun murdersof their parentsJose and Kitty Menendez.“I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving sentences of life without possibility of parole,” Gascón wrote in apress release. “They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates.”The support comes after Erik and Lyle’s legal team asked for clemency on Monday, Oct. 28. The request now goes to Newsom, 57, for consideration, per the release.Erik Menendez Lyle Menendez 2023 Mugshots.CDCR/MEGAGascón has previously shown support for the Menendez brothers' efforts to be resentenced, telling PEOPLE in an exclusive interview on Oct. 22 that he doesn’t believe they area danger to society.“Based on everything that I know, I don’t believe that they are," he said. “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.“On Oct. 25, Gascón announced that his office would ask the Los Angeles Superior Court judgeto resentence Lyle and Erikto 50 years to life. He pointed out that since they were younger than 26 when they killed their parents, they were “youthful offenders” eligible for parole.Erik was 18 and Lyle was 21 when they shot and killed their parents with 12-gauge shotguns in the den of their Beverly Hills, Calif., home on Aug. 20, 1989. The brothers alleged that the murders came after Jose, the chief operating officer of RCA Records,sexually abused themfor years — abuse that they claimed their mother, a former pageant queen, ignored.“They have been in prison for nearly 35 years,” Gascón told PEOPLE of the brothers. “I believe they have paid their debt to society.” In their time in prison, he said, “they engaged in a different journey—a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation.“A court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11, according to Wednesday’s press release.

Los Angeles County District AttorneyGeorge GascónsupportsErikandLyle Menendez’s request for clemency from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Gascón said on Wednesday, Oct. 20.

Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, areserving life sentenceswithout parole for the1989 shotgun murdersof their parentsJose and Kitty Menendez.

“I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving sentences of life without possibility of parole,” Gascón wrote in apress release. “They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates.”

The support comes after Erik and Lyle’s legal team asked for clemency on Monday, Oct. 28. The request now goes to Newsom, 57, for consideration, per the release.

Erik Menendez Lyle Menendez 2023 Mugshots.CDCR/MEGA

CDCR/MEGA

Gascón has previously shown support for the Menendez brothers' efforts to be resentenced, telling PEOPLE in an exclusive interview on Oct. 22 that he doesn’t believe they area danger to society.

“Based on everything that I know, I don’t believe that they are,” he said. “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.”

On Oct. 25, Gascón announced that his office would ask the Los Angeles Superior Court judgeto resentence Lyle and Erikto 50 years to life. He pointed out that since they were younger than 26 when they killed their parents, they were “youthful offenders” eligible for parole.

Erik was 18 and Lyle was 21 when they shot and killed their parents with 12-gauge shotguns in the den of their Beverly Hills, Calif., home on Aug. 20, 1989. The brothers alleged that the murders came after Jose, the chief operating officer of RCA Records,sexually abused themfor years — abuse that they claimed their mother, a former pageant queen, ignored.

“They have been in prison for nearly 35 years,” Gascón told PEOPLE of the brothers. “I believe they have paid their debt to society.” In their time in prison, he said, “they engaged in a different journey—a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation.”

A court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11, according to Wednesday’s press release.

source: people.com