<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearings can continue despite opposition from the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/los-angeles" rel="" target="" title="Los Angeles"><span>Los Angeles</span></a><span> County district attorney, a judge ruled on Friday.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at ages 18 and 21 after being convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While defence attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defence after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multi-million-dollar inheritance.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/rick-thorburn-who-murdered-foster-daughter-tiahleigh-palmer-found-dead-in-jail/e33b092a-ecbe-4fb6-9266-f0d62a1fbaca" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Child killer Rick Thorburn found dead in jail</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The case has captured the public’s attention for decades, and the Netflix drama </span><em><span>Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story</span></em><span> and the documentary </span><em><span>The Menendez Brothers</span></em><span> released in the fall of 2024, have been credited for bringing new attention to the case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Supporters of the brothers have flown in from across the country to attend rallies and hearings in the past few months.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón asked a judge last year to change the brothers’ sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/judge-rules-menendez-brothers-bid-for-freedom-through-resentencing-can-continue/3e805981-4c49-4dc9-bf92-02f2e801b79a" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That would make them immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Gascón’s successor reversed course. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nathan Hochman submitted a motion last month to withdraw the resentencing request.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said during Friday's hearing they could not support the brothers’ resentencing because the brothers had not admitted to lies told during their trial about why they killed their parents nor have they taken complete responsibility for their crime.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They are the same people they were," Balian said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They have not changed.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/biological-parents-of-baby-born-to-wrong-couple-in-ivf-bungle-have-no-legal-right-to-child/d30e3d6c-9855-4230-8b5d-9c1bdfc78a35" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Biological parents of baby born to wrong couple in IVF bungle have no legal right to child</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic that argument is “fair game” for prosecutors to make during the resentencing hearing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The brothers appeared in court over Zoom but didn’t make any public statements.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They’ve waited a long time to get some justice," the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, said of the family.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Balian said that the key issue with Gascón’s resentencing petition was that it did not fully address rehabilitation and missed key elements of the original crime committed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“What does it (rehabilitation) mean? To learn from your mistakes and truly understand that you were wrong,” Balian said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Balian presented evidence and video clips of the brothers' testimony from the first trial to demonstrate instances where they “hunkered down in their bunker of deceit, lies, and deception".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said the brothers killed their parents out of greed when they learned they would be taken out of the will, citing psychiatrist's notes that he said showed “this was not self-defence.”</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Geragos called the presentation a “dog and pony show” and said it was “nothing more than political cover” as a result of Hochman defeating Gascón in the district attorney’s race.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“They have authorised the denial of sexual abuse,” Geragos said of the prosecution’s presentation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/ai-art-damaging-australian-artists-livelihoods-experts-say/ad613fc2-fc6f-40b5-8bf6-126f9266a12f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>How AI art is 'damaging' Australian artists</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Geragos argued the judge had full authority to proceed with resentencing under a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/california" rel="" target="" title="California"><span>California</span></a><span> law passed in 2023 that allows a court to recall a sentence and initiate resentencing at any point in time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Geragos also objected to Balian including a photo of the deceased and bloody Menendez parents in his presentation, which he said “retraumatised” family members and victims.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The family's relationship with Hochman has soured since he took office. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Most of the brothers' extended family supports their resentencing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tamara Goodall, a cousin of the brothers, submitted a complaint with the state asking that Hochman be removed from the case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She wrote that Hochman had a “hostile, dismissive and patronising tone” in meetings with the family and created an “intimidating and bullying atmosphere".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Geragos pointed out that Hochman demoted Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford, the two deputy district attorneys who filed the original resentencing motion.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Theberge and Lunsford have since filed lawsuits against Hochman alleging harassment, discrimination and retaliation for their work on the Menendez brothers case.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>“We look forward to a full, fair presentation of who Eric and Lyle are today, not just a version frozen in time in a time of pain and fear, but the whole truth — the growth, the humanity and the men they’ve become,” said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers, after the hearing concluded.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/trump-has-90-days-to-do-150-trade-deals-financial-markets-arent-buying-it/c9a2c5c7-9068-42e0-b101-5feae76b7106" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Trump has 90 days to do 150 trade deals. Financial markets aren't buying it</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Without resentencing, the brothers would still have two other pathways to freedom. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They have submitted a clemency plea to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has ordered the state parole board to assess whether the brothers could pose a public risk if released.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The brothers also submitted a petition for habeas corpus in May 2023 asking the court to grant them a new trial in light of new evidence presented.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hochman's office also filed a motion opposing the petition.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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