Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced a risk assessment of Lyle and Erik Menendez to determine whether the convicted murderers “pose a current, unreasonable risk to public safety.”
Risk assessments are conducted by public safety experts and forensic psychologists. Additionally, Newsom promised to publicize the findings to the judges who will rule over the recent sentencing motion in LA Superior Court and to the Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who opposed their resentencing.
Newsom explained his decision in a video posted to X featuring the logo of his new podcast, This is Gavin Newsom in the corner, just hours after the podcast was announced.
“The question for the board is a rather simple one: Do Erik and Lyle Menendez, do they pose a current what we call unreasonable risk to public safety,” Newsom said. “There’s no guarantee of outcome here. My office conducts dozens and dozens of these clemency reviews on a consistent basis. But this process simply provides more transparency, which I think is important in this case, as well as provides us more due diligence before I make any determination for clemency.”
Newsom’s announcement comes months after former President Joe Biden signed a flurry of pardons, commutations, and clemencies affecting over 4,200 people during his final day in office. As Newsom is a year away from reaching his two-term limit as governor, his recent actions aroused speculation that he is posturing to run for president in 2028.
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The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996 for the murder of their parents, José and Kitty Menendez. Both Lyle and Erick claimed they had long been sexually abused by their father while their mother was privy to the abuse, which motivated them to shoot both of them to death in 1989.
The complicated nature of their case prompted the first criminal case against them to result in a mistrial. However, in their second trial, they were both convicted and are serving life sentences. A recent dramatic retelling of their trial, plus a documentary on Netflix, have thrust their names into the public sphere once more as clemency considerations rise.