Gascon supports Menendez brothers' request for clemency

A week after he made national headlines for supporting the Menendez brothers’ resentencing, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón went a step further, announcing he supports the brothers’ request for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Erik and Lyle Menendez asked Newsom for clemency on Monday, a request Gascón’s office supported with a letter to Newsom, the District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

“I strongly support clemency for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are currently serving sentences of life without possibility of parole. They have respectively served 34 years and have continued their educations and worked to create new programs to support the rehabilitation of fellow inmates,” said Gascón.

The clemency decision now rests with Newsom, though the Menendezes could still be freed if a judge agrees with their request for resentencing, something Gascón has also called for.

If approved, the Menendezes could be paroled being sentenced to life in prison without parole in the 1989 shootings of their parents at their Beverly Hills home.

A hearing on resentencing is scheduled for Dec. 11.