Menendez brothers to seek clemency from Gov. Newsom
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Erik and Lyle Menendez's attorney, Mark Geragos, will seek clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom in the hopes of getting the brothers' release by Thanksgiving.
On Wednesday, ABC News reported that the paperwork for a clemency request was being filed.
"Pending clemency applications are confidential and we're not able to discuss individual cases," the governor's office said in a statement. "More information on the process can be found here."
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, who already supports resentencing of the brothers, will also support the clemency request, his office told ABC News. He expected to submit a letter to that effect by the end of the day Wednesday.
The Menendez brothers are currently serving prison sentences of life without parole for the grisly murders of the parents, who were shot to death in 1989.
The latest bid by their attorneys means there are now three separate legal scenarios under which the brothers could win their freedom from prison. There's clemency, the resentencing now supported by Gascón and separately there is a habeas corpus bid by their legal team to reduce the original conviction to involuntary manslaughter based on new evidence they were subject to physical and sexual assault by their parents.
Clemency from Newsom would change the brothers' individual sentences but not their convictions for murder.
Last week, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommended a resentencing for the Menendez brothers after new evidence prompted him to reexamine the case. But Gascón seemed to support their convictions for murder, saying there was no question they were responsible for their parents' deaths.
In an interview with ABC News, the D.A. was asked what he tells people in his own office who say the two young men clearly premeditated the murders.
"We're not letting them off," Gascón replied. "First of all, I've been very clear: These were brutal murders, they were premeditated and that's why they got life without the possibility of parole."
The case has now been moved to the Van Nuys courthouse where the original double-murder trial was held. Each brother's trial resulted in a hung jury.
The Menendez brothers never denied killing their parents but insisted they acted in self defense after claiming they suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father, fearing for their lives.
If a judge agrees to resentencing, the case would still require approval from the Board of Parole and Newsom -- a process that could a year. But if a judge recommends that their murder convictions be reduced to voluntary manslaughter, they could be released immediately.
