The Murdering Menendez Brothers Erik and Lyle will get a shot–you should pardon the expression in March of next year, instead of 2028, according to NBC4. They report the ‘suitability’ hearing would have come in August of 2028, but due to a quirk in the law, the date is being moved up.
The brothers, Lyle now 58 and Erik now 55, were given life without possibility of parole in 1989, but later had the sentences commuted to 50-t0-life, making parole possible. Last year they were denied parole and not allowed to reapply for 3 years, but according to NBC4: “Under Proposition 9, passed by California voters and known as Marsy’s Law, parole denial lengths can be established for 15, 10, 7, 5 or 3 years. Before the law, people serving life terms for murder with the possibility of parole could be denied for one to five years.”
For rich, privileged kids convicted of murdering both of their parents in cold blood, they have surely worked the system to its limits. Their stay as guests of the state, and the costs associated with being sure their access to justice is fully realized is costly. ChatGPT surmises California taxpayers have spent an estimated $3.5 million to $4 million incarcerating the Menendez brothers since their convictions, plus an unknown—and potentially substantial—amount for decades of court proceedings, prosecution, parole reviews and publicly funded legal work.
AI was used in compiling this story.
