After more than 10 hours of review and deliberation, there has yet to be a decision in Lyle Menendez’s parole hearing. Menendez faced a California parole board a day after his brother Erik was denied freedom after spending 30 years in prison for the slayings of their parents inside their California mansion.
A panel of two California commissioners on Thursday denied Erik Menendez parole, despite strong support from family members who have advocated for the brothers’ release.
The commissioners took hours decide. Robert Barton, one of the commissioners, said the primary reason for the decision was not the seriousness of the brothers’ crime but Erik Menendez‘s behavior in prison.
“Two things can be true. They can love and forgive you, and you can still be found unsuitable for parole,” Barton said.
The Menendez brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for killing their father, José Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time. Defense attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, while prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance.
Erik was denied parole for three years, after which he will be eligible again.
At Thursday’s hearing, the commissioners questioned Erik Menendez about why he committed the crime and violated prison rules.
In his testimony, he offered the most detailed account in years of how he was raised, why he made the choices he did, and how he transformed in prison.
He noted the hearing fell almost exactly 36 years after he killed his parents – on 20 August 1989.
“Today is August 21. Today is the day that all of my victims learned my parents were dead. So today is the anniversary of their trauma journey,” he said, referring to his family members.
The commissioners scrutinized every rules violation and fight on his lengthy prison record, including allegations that he worked with a prison gang, bought drugs, used cellphones and helped with a tax scam.
He told commissioners that since he had no hope of ever getting out then, he prioritized protecting himself over following the rules. Then last fall, Los Angeles prosecutors asked a judge to resentence him and his brother – opening the door to parole.
A particular sticking point for the commissioners was his use of cellphones.
“What I got in terms of the phone and my connection with the outside world was far greater than the consequences of me getting caught with the phone,” Menendez said.
Nathan Hochman, the Los Angeles county district attorney, said ahead of the parole hearings that he opposes parole for the brothers because of their lack of insight.
His repeated breaking of prison rules by using a cellphone was “selfish” and a sign of he believed that rules don’t apply to him, Barton said to Erik Menendez, who was visibly hurt by the decision but listened intently.
Lyle Menendez is set to appear by videoconference from the same San Diego jail where Erik is held on Friday for his parole hearing. The brothers still have a pending habeas corpus petition filed in May 2023 seeking a review of their convictions based on new evidence supporting their claims of sexual abuse by their father.
Associated Press contributed reporting
