News October 29, 2024
Erik and Lyle Menendez Requesting Clemency from California Governor Gavin Newsom
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Less than a week after DA George Gascon’s resentencing recommendation, Erik and Lyle Menendez are asking for clemency.
Erik and Lyle’s lawyer Mark Geragos told TMZ that he was filing the papers to ask California Gov. Gavin Newsom for clemency.
Geragos said, “I am doing everything possible. I’ve said publicly I want them home, not just for Thanksgiving, but for Joan’s 93rd.”
Mark was referencing Erik and Lyle’s aunt Joan VanderMolen, who recently pleaded for their freedom at a press conference.
While Mark didn’t want to reveal if he’s been in contact with the governor’s office, a source connected to the governor’s office told the outlet that they are looking out for the clemency papers.
Earlier this week, Newsom weighed in on the Menendez brothers after Gascon’s recommendation on “Politickin' with Gavin Newsom, Marshawn Lynch, and Doug Hendrickson.”
Newsom said, “It’s interesting, I met with the team that put that series together about nine months ago and they gave me a heads up and they said, ‘Watch, see what happens after this series is released because it’s going to generate a lot more conversation around whether or not these guys should be released or resentenced,’ and here we are.”
He went on, “One thing is crystal clear, this is what I do for a living every week, including — no BS — literally today, we go through all the parole board recommendations. I was working on pardons, independent of the Menendez brothers, in commutations today as well. Particularly this time of year, around Thanksgiving, it’s not atypical for a governor to do that, and obviously the team has done a lot of research and analysis of what the DA’s decision means or doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean that I obviously go back to the courts. The DA is asking for resentencing, which has to be approved by independent court, and then the question is, if they approve eligibility then it goes to the parole board and then ultimately, it’ll go to me for decision, either to reject the parole board, send it back… or to approve the recommendation.”
Along with discussing the reignited conversation around the case, Newsom emphasized, “What matters are the facts. What matters is justice and fairness and not treating them any worse because they are celebrities, and certainly not treating them any better.”
