Menendez Brothers' Resentencing Hearing Happening, Judge Rules

Lyle and Erik Menendez's bid for freedom via resentencing can move forward, a judge ruled on Friday.

The Menendez brothers and the L.A. County district attorney were facing off again in court.

A judge ruled in Lyle and Erik Menendez's favor with a resentencing hearing, despite opposition from District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

Hochman recently withdrew the request from his predecessor George Gascón for a reduced sentence.

Following the ruling, Erik and Lyle’s lawyer Mark Geragos emphasized that justice has been "a long time coming,” adding that the judge’s decision was "probably the biggest day since they've been in custody.”

Lyle and Erik's freedom was on the line after 35 years of life in lockup for the murders of their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez at their Beverly Hills home in August 1989.

The brothers did not attend in person, but they watched via Zoom, sitting next to each other in blue jumpsuits. 

Many of their family members were present for the hearing, along with Cooper Koch, who played Erik in “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

Their cousin Anamaria Baralt reacted to the ruling, saying, “Their conclusion wasn't based on sympathy or politics. It was based on evidence… They applied the law exactly as it was intended. Erik and Lyle have taken full responsibility for what they did."

“Extra” was with Erik and Lyle’s attorney Mark Geragos outside court during a break, and he reacted to the prosecution showing crime scene photos at one point with the brothers’ family members seated in the courtroom. 

He said, “I believe there are court rules about that, in that [it is] not only inappropriate, it’s generally sanctionable conduct.”

L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman previously told “Extra” he decided to withdraw the previous DA’s recommendation on resentencing, insisting the brothers, in his words, “come clean.”

Hochman said, “If they unequivocally and sincerely admit for the first time in 30 years that they’ve been lying this entire time, [then] the court should consider those new insights, as will the district attorney’s office.”

Their cousin Anamaria Baralt told us, “That’s not going to happen, right? They’ve worked way too hard. They have worked way too hard on themselves. There is just no way that they would compromise their integrity for that.”

Another cousin, Tamara Goodell, previously spoke out, saying of the DA, “It feels like he is more interested in punishing Erik and Lyle for childhood lies than actually looking at the facts.”

“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke about the cast with TMZ’s Harvey Levin and his take was, “The way Erik and Lyle’s team sees it, they’ve already confessed to those lies because they were cross-examined about all of it during the trial.”