And, This is a Menendez Brothers Update

 Gavin provides a brief update on the Menendez brothers.
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is Gavin Newsom. So when I started the podcast,
I made the point that I wanted to reach out
to people I disagree with and do so in a
civil way to have a dialogue people I agree with.
But I also made a commitment to all of you
that I wanted to break news. After all, I'm the
current governor of California. I make decisions on a daily basis,
and I thought it was important on some critical decisions

(00:32):
to bring people in to the decision making process. And
of course a lot of attention has been given as
of late, particularly with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's
announcement earlier in this week about the Menandez brothers and
the Menandez brothers case. There's been a lot of inquiries.
A lot of folks like you have reached out and
have asked, is that influencing a determination for clemency? Does

(00:55):
what the DA just said, Does that influence the process
that's being conducted by our Board of Parole hearings. It doesn't.
It may influence the court. The court resentencing will continue
to go forward. The DA now the new DA is
pulling back recommending from the Menendez brothers to be re sentenced,
But it doesn't impact the processes underway that review for

(01:19):
clemency in my office or the independent risk assessment that
will be concluded on June thirteenth by the Board of
Parole Hearings. And I'll repeat that, on June thirteenth, both
Lyle and Eric Menendez independently will have their final hearing.
A report then will be submitted to me on the

(01:41):
thirteenth of June for consideration. We will submit that report
to the judge for the resentencing, and that will weigh
into our independent analysis of whether or not to move
forward with the clemency application to support a commutation of
this case. So this was a very significant announcement from

(02:03):
the DA this week, but it doesn't fundamentally change the
facts as it relates to the independent investigation in my
office the Board of prole Hearings, or fundamentally change or
alter the process that's underway with the resentencing. It just
changes the recommendation from one supporting with the previous DA

(02:24):
in la resentencing and one now with the current DA
opposing it. I get to question a lot about celebrity
and whether that has an impact on decisions decisions for
the court, decisions that we make as it relates to
applications for clemency, this commutation. And it's a great question

(02:45):
because I think it cuts both ways. Yes, celebrity ways.
It has an impact, but in what direction does it weigh?
Sometimes it's used actually against people because they're so high profile,
they're actually held to a higher level of scrutiny and standard.
At the same time, you don't want that celebrity also
to influence on the other side. So it's a balancing act.

(03:06):
But I'm deeply mindful of it, and that's why it's
critical that our team independently stress tests the nature of celebrity,
and that's why I move forward with the Board of
Parole hearings to independently review with a group of experts
for psychologists and others. The facts of this case not
born by any bias because of celebrity. So a lot

(03:28):
of people have asked me if you watched any of
these Netflix series, if you see any of the dramatizations
around the Menendez brothers, including more recently Ryan Murphy's dramatization.
The answer is no, I've not seen one. I've seen
a few clips here and there on social media, and
I don't intend to watch these series because I don't
want to be influenced by them. I just want to

(03:49):
be influenced by the facts. I'm obviously familiar with the
Menendez brothers just through the news over the course of
many decades, but not to the degree that many others
are because of all of these documentaries and all of
the attention they've received. So that won't bias my independent
and objective review of the facts. And again, it's not

(04:11):
just my independent objective review of the facts. It will
also be made by my staff, my team that does
this kind of work on a consistent basis. So on
June thirteenth, we will have the Parole Hearing Board recommendation
as it relates to the risk assessment as it relates
to the forensic psychologist, and that recommendation, that assessment, that

(04:33):
independent analysis will help guide the decision making that my
office is independently reviewing as it relates to the clemency application.