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August 21, 2025 14 mins

The long-awaited parole hearing for Erik Menendez is happening today in California. His brother Lyle has his parole hearing tomorrow. But by the end of the day today, we should know if the parole board recommends freedom. But even if Erik Menendez hears in the coming hours that his parole request has been granted, he’s not walking out of prison anytime soon. We break down the timeline and explain why so much of the Menendez brothers fate is in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom.

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, there are folks at It's Thursday, August twenty first,
and we could be hours away, maybe even minutes away. Hell,
we could be moments away of finding out if at
least one of the Menendez brothers could be getting paroleed.
And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and
TJ presents the Menandez parole Hearing. TJ. Holmes Here, my pardon,

(00:26):
Amy Robot is in Bulder, Colorado right now, so I'm
holding it down. But this is a very big day.
And as we speak, folks, as of this recording, the
parole hearing for Eric Menandez is taking place as I
talk to you, has been going on for what a
couple of hours now. We're expecting to go about three
hours and after that we are expecting this parole board

(00:50):
to give a decision about whether or not they believe
Eric Menandez should be let out of prison. It is
a remarkable day, a long time coming, a lot of
ups and downs and legal hurls and back and forth
of this, which was an absolute phenomenon when it comes

(01:10):
to trials and coverage in this country. But here we are,
thirty six years after those shocking deaths in Beverly Hills,
that one of the boys, they were boys eighteen to
twenty one at the time, but one of them could
be hearing a word on whether or not he's going
to be getting out of prison. Now, do need to
explain Eric and Lyle Menendez. Eric his hearing is today,

(01:33):
like I said, going on right now. His brother Lyle
is having his parole hearing tomorrow same time, about eight
thirty California time, is when both of them take place.
They are not physically in a courtroom. They are doing
all of this via video conference, so they are still
at their prison in San Diego. But they will sit
in a room and they will sit at a computer

(01:53):
and they will be first of all answering questions. So
this let me explain a little bit about the process
here and why we're kind of limited in how much
we know. So the process calls for this hearing to
take place. They have two or three commissioners in there
on the parole board who will be listening. They will
ask Eric today at least anticipated to ask him about

(02:14):
ninety minutes worth of questions, and they are trying to
find out what he was like, was he a model prisoner?
They are going through and asking questions to see if
they let a guy out who has admitted to double murder,
is he going to remain a risk of any kind
to the public. So that's what they're trying to figure out. Now.
We some of you, if you followed us, especially during

(02:35):
the Diddy trial, there were no cameras in the courtroom,
but there were a ton of reporters in the courtroom
and they were giving live updates. So as we were
getting those, we were able to update you all here
and do podcast updates. But this is different in California
and the parole board out there and laws out there.
There is no camera in the courtroom. There is no video,
there's no audio. In addition to that, there isn't a

(02:58):
room where a lot of reporters are given access to
this hearing, and you're not allowed to log in if
you will and check out the video conference. The way
they do it out there, they only have one pool
reporter that was selected. That pool reporter is in their
believe they're with the LA Times, but they have to
sit and they listen and they take notes, but they

(03:18):
are not able to disseminate that information as it's coming,
so they can't sit there like we were doing in
the Ditty trial and right every time a lawyer says
something or there was a major moment or a major
response from one of the witnesses. Of course, a lot
of reporters they get on they give the live update,
and we were getting them in real time. Not the
case here. In fact, we don't know what has happened

(03:42):
in the first few hours of that parole hearing because
they aren't allowed to disseminate that information just yet while
the thing is still going on. That makes sense. They
don't want some misinformation to get out. They don't want
any influence possibly on the process, and that makes sense,
but it leaves us at this point just kind of
blind to the whole thing, and we do not know

(04:03):
what's happening in there. However, we do believe it is
expected that there will be a decision today about Eric Menandez.
They will decide if Eric Menendez, if they recommend that
he be let out of prison. If you do remember
Eric and Lyle Mendez, they were eighteen and twenty one

(04:24):
at the time, but they killed their parents. They admit
they killed their parents in an awful, awful crime back
in nineteen eighty nine, check us out. It just so
happens that this parole board hearing is happening almost thirty
six years to the day of those brutal killings. It
was August twentieth of nineteen eighty nine. Here we are

(04:45):
August twenty first when this hearing is taking place. But
they killed their parents back in nineteen eighty nine. They
were tried separately, if you remember, at first, but those
ended in a mistrial. It came back and tried them
together and they were both convicted, sentenced to life in
prison without the possibility of parole. So at least back
in the what nineteen ninety when were they convicted in

(05:07):
nineteen ninety six, I think it was when they were
eventually finally convicted, they were not supposed to be getting
out of prison ever. That's what that means, life in
prison without the possibility of parole. There is no possibility
of parole. That's where we thought it would remain, and
it stayed there for a long time. There were plenty
of people who were who are fighting and who are

(05:28):
arguing that these two were young men who frankly were abused.
They suffered abuse at the hands of their father in particular,
and say, hey, they were young, they were kids at
the time. They have admitted, they have repented, they have
done all these things, and you know what, now is
enough time they should be let out the family. In fact,
they're family members who are also family members of the

(05:51):
people they killed. They are now in Eric and Lyle's
camp saying they should get out of prison. So how
did we get here. There's some momentum over the past
couple of years. There's been some new information that's come out,
some new evidence that's come out to where the DA
in LA last year was looking at this case and
requested that they be re sentenced to fifty years to

(06:15):
life in prison. Now, why is that a big deal?
That's still a long time. It doesn't mean necessarily going
to get out, right. Well, the reason that's a big
deal is by changing the sentence to fifty years to life.
There is a law in California that allows for young
defenders if you were under the age of twenty six
when you committed the crime, if you have fifty years
to life. This made them immediately eligible for parole. So

(06:35):
that's what happened. They ended up having their sentence reduced
or changed to fifty years to life. That happened in May,
and as soon as that happened, that means they were
eligible for parole, and that is why we are here
where we are today. However, another issue came up because
there was an election for the district attorney out in LA.

(06:58):
The guy who was pushing to get them an into
as brothers possibly out of prison and who wanted to
change their sentence, he got voted out, and so there's
a new guy in there. And the new guy ain't
trying to let the Meninda's brothers out have prison. He said.
He has said they have not demonstrated full insight into
their crimes or shown that they have been fully rehabilitated,

(07:19):
and therefore they continue to pose a risk to society.
Those were his words. Now, these two are now fifty
four and fifty seven years old. Lyle the oldest. I
believe he's fifty seven. Erica is fifty four. They were
twenty one and eighteen at the time. But the DA
doesn't want them to get out. Now he is going
to put together an argument. He is making the argument

(07:41):
that they have told countless lies that they did not acknowledge,
and he is saying they are still a risk. They
have been deemed a moderate risk to society, a moderate
risk to re offend. But that's the lowest of the risk.
There's a high risk and there's a medium. I can't

(08:02):
remember what the other one was, but they have been
deemed a moderate risk. Now the parole board, these two
or three commissioners, again, we do expect them to make
or to let us know today. And quite frankly, it
could happen immediately at the end of the hearing. They
I mean, they might go and chat for a second,
or they might do it on the spot, but we

(08:23):
could find out. It's kind of remarkable to think that
this crime that captivated the nation, a horrific crime that's
been in headlines for really thirty five years now, that
possibly these two could get out of prison. Now it
sounds odd. Eric is up first today, Lyle is tomorrow.
They are being assessed separately, meaning somebody could come to

(08:48):
two different decisions about whether or not they should be
let out of prison. So yes, in theory, one of
them could be granted parole and the other not granted parole.
In theory, however, that is not good practice. Even their lawyer, Gerrigos, said,
yes it can. In theory happen, but that would just
be in bad faith and they don't necessarily expect that

(09:08):
to happen. But it's important to note it still could happen.
But even if here's the thing, folks, even if we
hear that decision at and I'm serious, folks, we are
talking any moment. I actually have my computer up just
in case it came through. But as soon as it does,
your next question is going to be, Okay, what do
they say today at this moment that Eric Menandez should

(09:34):
be let out of prison. We think he is a
good enough he has done a good enough job and
a model citizen. We don't think he is going to
be a threat or risk to society. If they say
today that they believe he should be paroled, get this,
it might still be another five months before he actually

(09:55):
walks out of prison. All Right, we wait, We wait
for word about Eric Menendez, one of the two Menandez brothers,
Eric and Lyle. We're both convicted, sentenced to initially life
in prison without the possibility of parole, for those horrific

(10:17):
shooting deaths of their parents back in nineteen eighty nine
in Beverly Hills. They were re sentenced to fifty years
to life in prison. And because of that new sentence,
it means they are now eligible for parole. And that's
why we are at this day today. So Eric is
up first as we speak, his parole hearing is going on.
We do not have access to the court, We do

(10:38):
not have access to the video conferences going on. We
do have just one pool reporter in there, but not
allowed to give the updates and start broadcasting them until
the thing is over. So that's why we're kind of
blind right now and waiting on an answer. But even
if we get the answer today, even if you get
an answer today, that says, you know what, we believe
that Eric Menendez is not a threat. We believe he

(11:00):
should be paroled. That would be big news. But it
doesn't mean he's getting out of prison. And it also
doesn't mean he's getting out of prison anytime soon. And
let me explain why the process there in California. The
parole board only makes a recommendation. They are only passing
along what they believe. And now oftentimes the other folks

(11:21):
are supposed to go along. But who are the other
folks that now have to go along? Well, you got
a couple of folks. One is the general Counsel that
serves California. The Parole Board has a review process. That
person has up to one hundred and twenty days to
do a review. After that review is done, it goes

(11:41):
to Governor Gavin Newsom, the California governor. It is then
his decision and he has another thirty days to sign
off on the parole recommendation. So that is why it
could end up being a total of five months. Even
if he's parole today, could be a while before he
ever walks out of prison. The other thing, and some

(12:03):
have talked about a little bit here, what if it
ends up in Gavin news AND's ha hands, What is
he going to do? This is a guy. I don't
think I'm breaking any news here by saying this is
a guy who clearly, by many estimations, has his sights
set on the White House. This is the guy who
has been making major headlines and getting some positive press

(12:24):
for his exchanges with President Trump. He has been the
guy right now who is tasked with, Oh, this is
the guy who could be a tough Democrat. Oh, this
is the guy who could fight fire with fire. His phrase,
By the way, this is the guy. You've seen Gavin
Newsom recently mocking and trolling President Trump and how he
does his social media posts. You've seen some of the stuff.

(12:45):
What I'm saying is he has increased his profile in
a major way over the past couple of years, and
now certainly at this point where it seems like he
has set and he is poised for a more national role.
So as a part of that national role, any politician
is going to have to be but tough on crime.
You have to be tough on crime. At some point,

(13:06):
he's gonna have to answer that question if he decides
to go along with paroling these two, he's gonna have
to answer that question, why did you let two people
convicted of double murder walk out of prison when blank
was happening. This was happening, the parole boy said this,
and they'll be questioned about it. You would like to

(13:26):
think politics doesn't play a role, but that's just something
else that's out there that people are keeping an eye on.
So it's ultimately all Gavin Newsom who gets to make
this decision. The parole board only recommends. They can't get
him out of prison. They can only recommend, and then
it goes to other people's hands, and in particular finally
Gavin Newsom something else to note. What if the parole

(13:48):
boy says, nah, we don't think he's good, we don't
think there should be let out. There's too much of
a risk. They need to stay in prison. Well, then
at that point they could get another parole hearing. I
think have this right in five years, ten years, fifteen years,
so they would be still there and stuck for a
little while longer. But here's the thing. Also, with the

(14:09):
power of Gavin Newsom, he can grant clemency anytime he
wants to. So that has been something that has been
floated around as well, that he could end all this.
He could have intoed all this, He could have let
them out previously, and he has so far at least
refused to do that. We are keeping an eye, folks,
a very close eye, and there is a fascination with
this story that has gone for decades and today is

(14:31):
a huge day, one of the biggest possibly in this
storied case, that the Menindez brothers could hear word that
they are parolled and could be on their way to
walking out of prison. I will jump back on when
we get an update and make sure you all have it.
But for now, I'm TJ. Holmes from our partner Amy Roboc.

(14:53):
We will be talking to y' all soon
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