Erik and Lyle Menendez Retrial Denied Following Parole Request Rejection
Erik Menéndez and Lyle Menéndez have had their request for a retrial denied just weeks after being turned down for parole.
A report on Tuesday, September 16, from The New York Times indicated that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan rejected the brothers’ appeal the previous day. This decision came after both men, convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty Menéndez, in 1989, were denied parole in two separate hearings in August.
The retrial motion, submitted by the brothers’ attorneys in May 2023, marks yet another unsuccessful attempt to reduce their convictions. Erik, 57, and Lyle, 54, are currently serving 50 years to life in prison following a resentencing in May that made them eligible for parole. (In 1996, they were sentenced to life without parole after a mistrial, which stemmed from jurors being unable to reach a unanimous verdict regarding allegations of abuse by their parents.)
The brothers’ 2023 request for a retrial included new evidence that surfaced after the release of the Peacock docuseries Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. Following this, public interest in Erik and Lyle’s case skyrocketed with the Netflix release of Ryan Murphy’s production Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in October 2024.
One piece of evidence cited was an alleged letter Erik wrote at 17 to his cousin Andy Cano, disclosing claims of sexual abuse by his father.
The second component involved a declaration from Roy Rosselló, a member of the band Menudo, who alleged that he was sexually abused by José in 1983.
In a detailed 16-page letter outlining the denial of the retrial request, which was reviewed by The New York Times, Judge Ryan characterized the new evidence as not “particularly strong.”
In the statement, Judge Ryan noted: “The purported new evidence that somewhat corroborates the petitioners’ claims of sexual abuse does not undermine the findings of premeditation and deliberation as well as the lying-in-wait special circumstance.”
Judge Ryan further stated, “The evidence put forth is not compelling enough to create reasonable doubt in the minds of at least one juror or to support an imperfect self-defense instruction.”
Regarding the letter Erik purportedly sent to his cousin, Judge Ryan remarked that it “does not provide additional insight into the jury concerning the petitioners’ alleged fear at the time of the murders,” while also observing that Rosselló’s declaration was “not pertinent to the petitioners’ mental state during the murder events.”
The report mentioned that Erik and Lyle may consider “petitioning the board again after 18 months.”
