California Governor Gavin Newsom Delays Menendez Brothers Clemency Decision

California Governor Gavin Newsom

Erik and Lyle Menéndez will have to wait a little longer to find out whether their sentences will be reduced or overturned more than 20 years after their conviction.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Monday, November 18, that he will hold off on deciding whether to grant them clemency until the incoming Los Angeles district attorney can review their case.

“The governor respects the role of the district attorney in ensuring justice is served and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney–elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” Newsom’s office said in a statement on Monday. “The governor will defer to the D.A.–elect’s review and analysis of the Menéndez case prior to making any clemency decisions.”

Last month, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommended that Lyle, 56, and Erik, 53, be resentenced to add the possibility of parole. The brothers are currently serving life sentences for the 1989 murders of their parents, Kitty and José Menéndez, after a 1996 conviction.

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On Election Day, however, Gascón lost his bid for reelection, losing to Nathan Hochman, who will be sworn in on December 2. During the D.A. debate ahead of the election, Hochman called the timing of Gascón’s interest in the brothers “suspicious,” but he has promised to review the case in a timely manner.

Erik and Lyle Menendez

Hochman said if the case is not resolved at a November 25 habeas petition hearing — when a judge will hear a motion requesting to vacate the brothers’ first-degree murder convictions — then he will make a decision on whether to recommend resentencing. The brothers’ resentencing hearing is scheduled for December 11, and Hochman has indicated that he plans to petition the court for additional time to review the case before that date.

“I wouldn’t engage in delay for delay’s sake because this case is too important to the Menendez brothers,” Hochman said in an interview earlier this month. “It’s too important to the victims’ family members. It’s too important to the public to delay more than necessary to do the review that people should expect from a district attorney.”

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While Hochman noted that such a review requires the analysis of thousands of pages worth of transcripts and files, Hochman ensured constituents that he would still be able to make a decision relatively quickly.

“Whatever position I ultimately end up taking, people should expect that I spent a long time thinking about it, analyzing the evidence,” he explained. “But my 34 years of criminal justice experience — involving hundreds of cases as a prosecutor and a defense attorney — allow me to work quickly and expeditiously in conducting this type of thorough review because I’ve done it in many, many cases before.”