Lyle and Erik Menendez are one step closer to freedom after a California judge resentenced the brothers to 50 years to life with parole.

In a packed Los Angeles courthouse on Tuesday, May 14, 2025, Judge Michael Jesic said he couldn’t “make a finding that they are an unreasonable risk,” effectively placing the decision to release the brothers with the state parole board, as reported by NBC Los Angeles affiliate KNBC. Defense attorney Mark Geragos sought to have the men, now in their 50s, resentenced under the guidelines of a manslaughter conviction. However, the ruling makes the men eligible for parole for the first time, a decision supported by former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

First-term D.A. Nathan Hochman, however, argued the men who used a pair of shotguns to brutally murder their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion on August 20, 1989, were unrepentant. He told KNBC the men “lied about it” and “engaged in a coverup for 30 years,” and his office’s attempts to withdraw Gascón’s petitions were previously denied.

In a release from his office, Hochman stated, “Justice should never be swayed by spectacle.”

Judge Jesic said he gave the men “a lot of credit for changing their lives behind bars,” according to CNN, factoring in their ages at the time of the murders (Lyle Menendez was 21, and Erik Menendez was 18).

The Menendez brothers take accountability for their crimes

The hearing, slated to last two days, wrapped in a single day, during which time Lyle and Erik Menendez took accountability for their crimes.

“I committed an atrocious act against two people who had the right to live — my mom and my dad,” Lyle Menendez, who appeared virtually in the courtroom, said during a lengthy statement, per KNBC. “Today, 35 years later, I am deeply ashamed of who I was.”

Erik Menendez followed, admitting, “I fired all five rounds at my parents and went back to reload. I lied to police. I lied to my family. I’m truly sorry.”

In recent years, the Menendez brothers, whose trials and ultimate 1996 convictions captured the public eye, have received an outpouring of public support as attitudes toward domestic violence continue to shift. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian have advocated for their release, and several streaming series’ — including Peacock’s Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed — helped the case stay in the spotlight.

A chorus of relatives has also supported the pair, citing physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of the murdered parents.

Menendez brothers’ relatives take the stand

On Tuesday, several defense witnesses took the stand, including two of the Menendez’s cousins, Diane Hernandez and Anamaria Baralt, per KNBC.

“Thirty-five years is enough,” said Baralt. “They are universally forgiven by the family.”

Hernandez, the daughter of Kitty Menendez’s sister Joan Vandermolen, referred to the men’s “dark times” and pleaded with the court to “be merciful.”

Purported evidence recently unearthed, including Erik Menendez’s mention of his father’s alleged sexual abuse in a 1988 letter to a cousin, urged former prosecutors to reexamine the case beginning last year. Still, some viewed Gascón’s interest in the case as an attempt to boost his 2024 electoral campaign, especially since his support came more and a year and a half after the defense filed a habeas corpus petition.

Gascón highlighted the men’s reformed lives behind bars, including initiatives to form support groups for others and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to go toward prison projects, according to CNN.

Former inmate Anerae Brown, nicknamed “X-Raided,” gave supporting testimony on Tuesday, claiming Lyle and Erik Menendez’s guidance helped his decision to leave a gang and stop “doing stupid things,” according to the NBC affiliate.

On the other hand, Hochman pointed to the preliminary reports of risk assessments previously ordered by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The D.A. said the sealed reports detailed the defendants’ alleged cell phone smuggling and left them “moderately more likely” to commit a violent offense if released, KNBC reported.