Feb. 26 (UPI) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has directed the Board of Parole Hearings to conduct a risk assessment investigation as part of the clemency application filed by Erik and Lyle Menendez.
Newsom made the announcement in a teaser clip for his new podcast “This is Gavin Newsom” that was published to his X account Wednesday.
“The question for the board is a rather simple one: Do Erik and Lyle Menendez cause a current — what we call — ‘unreasonable’ risk to public safety,” the Democratic governor said.
Known as the Menendez brothers, the pair have spent 34 years behind bars for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Erik and Lyle were 18 and 21 years old at the time of the crime.
They were sentenced to two consecutive life terms in their second trial, after their first ended in mistrials. However, they are currently in the middle of resentencing litigation after former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said they had paid their debt to society.
They have also filed petitions of clemency with Newsom.
In the 1-minute, 24-second clip, Newsom said the risk assessment will be conducted by public safety experts as well as forensic scientists. The results of the investigation will also be made available to judges overseeing the brothers’ re-sentencing, he said.
“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,” he said.