They could be the last hours behind the bars for Lyle and Erik Mendez. The two brothers, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of parents José and Kitty in August 1989, will appear today and tomorrow in front of the commission for the supervised freedom of Los Angeles.
The 1996 trial
After a highly media trial, Lyle and Erik were recognized guilty of voluntary murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without conditional. The prosecutor claimed that the brothers had acted to obtain the millionaire inheritance of the father, influential in the record industry. The defense, on the other hand, focused on the accumulation of decades of alleged violence by the parents about children, then respectively 21 and 18 years old.
Reduction of the penalty and return to the limelight
Last May, after years of legal battles and renewed media attention thanks to the Netflix series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Mendez Storya judge of Los Angeles has reduced the sentence to 50 years. The reduction was motivated by the fact that both were minors at the time of the crime, making them immediately eligible for supervised freedom.
The hearings in videoconference
The hearings take place separately from the San Diego prison. Today is Erik’s turn, tomorrow he will touch Lyle. The Commission will evaluate signs of repentance and behavior during detention, where the brothers have followed rehabilitation courses and started support programs for prison companions.
The path to release
If the outcome is positive, the release will not be immediate: up to 120 days for the legal review and a further 30 days for the possible signature of the governor Gavin Newsom, which would complete the release process will be needed.
