DA supports Menendez brothers' plea for clemency after nearly 35 years in prison

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon said Wednesday he supports the Menendez brothers' bid for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom, a move that could free them.

Gascon's announcement came days after he said he would ask a judge to grant Eric and Lyle Menendez parole for the 1989 shotgun killings of their parents, a move that has given new impetus to their efforts to break out of prison.

“I strongly support clemency for Eric and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. They served 34 years respectively and continued their education and worked to create new programs to help rehabilitate fellow inmates,” Gascon said in a statement.

Attorneys for the brothers submitted a clemency request to the governor on Monday. The district attorney's office said Wednesday it had “sent a letter of support to Gov. Newsom.”

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the brothers, said he wants them home for Thanksgiving and will seek an apology from Newsom, who admitted on a podcast last weekend that he was reviewing the matter and mentioned Menendez's story in the Netflix docudrama “Monsters: The Lyle and Eric.” .”

“I met with the team that put the series together about nine months ago, and they gave me a heads-up,” Newsom said. “They said, 'Watch and see what happens after this series is released, because it's going to create a lot more conversation about whether these people should be released or not.' And here we are, not fast-tracked all these months later.”

In the podcast, Newsom said that this time of year he reviews and grants pardons.

The pardon, if granted, would put an end to the potential outrage process initiated by Gascón in a motion last week.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic has set a Dec. 11 hearing in Van Nuys on the district attorney's motion to commute the sentences of the brothers in the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home. After a mistrial, a second trial in 1996 found the pair guilty of murder under special circumstances, which made them ineligible for parole.

Gascon said last week that he would seek to have them resentenced to a simple murder charge, a change that would make them eligible for parole because the brothers committed the killings when they were under 26.

The brothers will also have a hearing on a habeas filing Nov. 25, according to Geragos.

Geragos said he would ask a judge at a November hearing to sentence them to murder — a move that could lead to immediate release.

Gascon's announcement last week drew praise from the brothers' celebrity supporters and loved ones — and condemnation from critics who felt it was designed to boost his flagging re-election bid. But as Gascon made clear during a news conference, the brothers' hopes for release still depend on decisions by the judge, the state parole board, Newsom and others, including the possible opening of a new district attorney come December.

In a 57-page motion released late Thursday, Gascon's office argued that the brothers no longer pose a threat to public safety and should be released because of their exemplary behavior while in custody.

Both brothers quickly married and earned college degrees in prison and started programs that benefited other inmates, including meditation groups and a “green space” project. Corrections staff rarely had to discipline them, according to the motion, which included one allegation of violence against both brothers during their nearly 30 years in prison.

In recent months, much of the attention in the brothers' case has focused on a habeas motion to overturn their convictions. The Geragos presented new documentation to support the brothers' claim that the killings were motivated by years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father — not, as prosecutors argued at their trial, by the brothers' desire to gain early access to their inheritance.

But legal experts say there may be a more direct path to freedom through vexation of the brothers.

The case was assigned this week to Jesic, a judge in the Van Nuys courthouse who is a former prosecutor. He may grant the request immediately, but he will likely hold a hearing where many of the family's loved ones and prosecutors opposing Gascon's decision can speak.

Gascon acknowledged Thursday that his office did not have “universal agreement” on the case, with some prosecutors opposed to disturbing the brothers. Another group in the office pushed Gascon to seek a conviction for the brothers' murder, which would have made them eligible for immediate release if the judge granted the plea, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Gascon's thinking.

The sources requested anonymity to discuss the case candidly. Experts say the move could be a bridge too far for the judge and could backfire.

If Jesic grants the application, the state parole board will then consider it.

As of Oct. 23, the board has granted parole in about 31% of hearings this year where it has made a decision, according to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data.

Even then, Newsom can reject the parole board's findings. Under California law, the governor can block the board's decision to grant parole if he finds evidence that the brothers' release poses an “unreasonable risk to the public.”

A Newsom spokeswoman referred questions about the Menendez brothers to the corrections section.

Gascon's decision could also stand if he is no longer in office by the time the court process ends. Some polls show Gascon's opponent in the November election, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, leading by as much as 30 points among likely voters. Hochman has not taken a public position on the Menendez case, but has said he intends to review the decision if Gascon is ousted. If Gascon loses his bid for re-election on November 5, Hochman will be in office on December 11.

“In that particular case, I will analyze thousands of pages of confidential prison records, both trial transcripts and voluminous exhibits, as well as talk to prosecutors, law enforcement, defense attorneys, experts and family members of victims.” Hochman said in a statement. “Only at that point will I be in a position to properly assess whether the re-request is appropriate.”

Times staff writer Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report.