{"id":120376,"date":"2024-10-31T08:25:57","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T01:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120376"},"modified":"2024-10-31T08:25:57","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T01:25:57","slug":"dist-atty-gascon-supports-menendez-brothers-bid-for-clemency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120376","title":{"rendered":"Dist. Atty. Gasc\u00f3n supports Menendez brothers&#8217; bid for clemency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gasc\u00f3n said Wednesday that he supports the Menendez brothers\u2019 bid for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom, a move that could set them free.<\/p>\n<p>Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s announcement comes days after he said he would ask a judge to resentence Erik and Lyle Menendez for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents, an action that gave new impetus to their efforts to get out of prison. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole. They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates,\u201d Gasc\u00f3n said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>The brothers\u2019 attorneys submitted a request for clemency to the governor on Monday. The district attorney\u2019s office said Wednesday that it \u201csent letters of support to Gov. Newsom.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Mark Geragos, one of the brothers\u2019 attorneys, said he wants them home for Thanksgiving and would also pursue clemency from Newsom, who acknowledged on a podcast last weekend that he was reviewing the matter and mentioned the Netflix docudrama \u201cMonsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met with the team that put the series together about nine months ago, and they gave me a heads-up,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cThey said, \u2018Watch and see what happens after this series is released, because it\u2019s going to generate a lot more conversation around whether these guys should be released or resentenced.\u2019 And here we are, fast-tracked not so many months later.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In the podcast, Newsom said it is at this time of year he reviews and grants clemencies.<\/p>\n<p>Clemency, if granted, would eliminate the potential resentencing process begun by Gasc\u00f3n in a motion last week.<\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic set Dec. 11 for a hearing in Van Nuys on the district attorney\u2019s proposal to change the brothers\u2019 sentences in the  killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez inside their Beverly Hills home. After a mistrial, the pair were convicted of murder with special circumstances in a second trial in 1996, making them ineligible for parole.<\/p>\n<p>Gasc\u00f3n said last week that he would seek to have them resentenced on a simple murder charge, a change that would make them eligible for parole because the brothers committed the killings when they were under 26 years old.<\/p>\n<p>According Geragos, the brothers will also have a hearing on a habeas filing on Nov. 25. <\/p>\n<p>Geragos said he would ask the judge at the November hearing to sentence them for manslaughter \u2014 a move that could trigger an immediate release. <\/p>\n<p>Last week\u2019s announcement by Gasc\u00f3n drew praise from the brothers\u2019 celebrity supporters and loved ones \u2014 and condemnation from critics who think it was designed to <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2024-10-24\/george-gascon-los-angeles-district-attorney-race\">boost his flagging reelection bid<\/a>. But as Gasc\u00f3n made clear during a news conference, the brothers\u2019 hopes of release still hinge on decisions from others, including the judge, the state parole board, Newsom and the potential inauguration of a new district attorney come December.<\/p>\n<p>In a 57-page motion made public late Thursday, Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s office argued that the brothers no longer threatened public safety and should be released, given their exemplary behavior while in custody. <\/p>\n<p>Both brothers got married and obtained college degrees in prison, according to the motion, and started programs that benefit other inmates, including meditation groups and a \u201cgreen space\u201d project. Corrections staff rarely had to discipline them, with only one allegation of violence being made against either brother in their nearly 30 years in prison, according to the motion.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, much of the attention on the brothers\u2019 case has <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2023-07-17\/menendez-brothers-vacate-convictions-new-hearing-evidence\">focused on a habeas motion<\/a> seeking to overturn their convictions. Geragos put forward new documentation to corroborate the brothers\u2019 claims that the killings were motivated by years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father \u2014 not, as prosecutors argued at their trial, by the brothers\u2019 desire to gain access to their inheritance early.<\/p>\n<p>But legal experts say the brothers might have a more direct path to freedom through resentencing.<\/p>\n<p>The case was assigned this week to Jesic, a judge in the Van Nuys courthouse who is a former prosecutor. He could immediately grant the petition, but it\u2019s more likely he would hold a hearing at which many of the family\u2019s loved ones and prosecutors opposed to Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s decision could speak. <\/p>\n<p>Gasc\u00f3n acknowledged Thursday there was not \u201cuniversal agreement\u201d on the case in his office, with some prosecutors opposed to resentencing the brothers. Another faction in the office had pushed Gasc\u00f3n to seek to resentence the brothers to manslaughter, which would have made them eligible for immediate release if the judge granted the petition, according to two sources with direct knowledge of Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s thinking. <\/p>\n<p>The sources requested anonymity in order to discuss the case candidly. Experts said that move might have been a bridge too far for the judge and backfired. <\/p>\n<p>If Jesic grants the petition, the state parole board would then weigh in. <\/p>\n<p>As of Oct. 23, the board had granted parole in approximately 31% of the cases it heard this year in which it rendered a decision, according <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdcr.ca.gov\/bph\/2024\/02\/21\/calendar-year-2024-suitability-results\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even then, Newsom could reject the parole board\u2019s findings. Under California law, the governor can block the board\u2019s decision to grant parole if he finds evidence that the brothers\u2019 release posed an \u201cunreasonable risk to the public.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Newsom referred questions about the Menendez brothers to the corrections department.<\/p>\n<p>Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s decision could also be upended if he is no longer in office by the time the process plays out in court. Some polls show Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s challenger in the November election, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, leading by as much as 30 points among likely voters. Hochman has not taken a public position on the Menendez case, but has said he intends to review the decision if he displaces Gasc\u00f3n. If Gasc\u00f3n loses his bid for reelection on Nov. 5, Hochman would be in office on Dec. 11.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn that particular case, I would analyze the thousands of pages of confidential prison records, the transcripts from both trials and the voluminous exhibits, as well as speak to the prosecutors, law enforcement, defense attorneys, experts and victims\u2019 family members,\u201d Hochman said in a statement. \u201cOnly at that point would I be in the position to properly evaluate whether the resentencing request is correct.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Times staff writer Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2024-10-30\/menendez-brothers\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gasc\u00f3n said Wednesday that he supports the Menendez brothers\u2019 bid for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom, a move that could set them free. Gasc\u00f3n\u2019s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=120376\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=120376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120376\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=120376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=120376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=120376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}