He added, “Nothing would make me happier than to celebrate Thanksgiving with them, with Joan and have them out.”
While their lawyer is hopeful, Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, will still need a judge to support the DA’s decision, as well as a parole board to approve their release. The decision will ultimately go to California governor Gavin Newsom, who could reject the board’s final decision.
During the Oct. 24 press conference, the DA pointed to two new pieces of evidence presented by their lawyer as the impetus to recommend resentencing.
The first was a letter that Erik wrote to their cousin Andy Cando eight months before the 1989 murders, in which he described the allegations of abuse against their father. The other was a declaration by former Menudo band member Roy Rosselló alleging that he was assaulted by José—who worked with the band while COO of RCA Records—in the Menendez family home.
“There are people in the office that strongly believe that the Menendez brothers should stay in prison the rest of their life, and they do not believe that they were molested,” the DA explained during the press conference. “And there are people in the office that strongly believe that they should be released immediately, and that they were, in fact, molested.”
