Menendez Brothers Asking California Governor Gavin Newsom For Clemency

TMZ

Erik and Lyle Menendez are gunning to be released from prison before Thanksgiving and their legal team has a new strategy for freeing the brothers ... seeking clemency from California's governor.

Transcript

00:00We have talked to people connected with the governor's office and are told that they are

00:10expecting within days a petition, presumably for clemency.

00:16Is this something that you're actively looking at right now?

00:20I don't know when this airs, but you can be sure the days is not accurate.

00:26Number one.

00:27Number two.

00:28There is a podcast that the governor dropped over the weekend.

00:31I'd invite anybody to take a listen to it.

00:33So you are asking for clemency today.

00:38You're filing something today.

00:40We have dual tracks.

00:43I am doing everything possible.

00:45I've said publicly, I want them home, not just for Thanksgiving, but for Jones 93rd

00:51to celebrate with Aunt Terry as well.

00:53We checked with the court.

00:55They said they're probably not going to do the hearing this month.

00:58It would be next month because there's a jury trial going on.

01:01So the other path is the governor.

01:03So have you been in touch with the governor or is this just documents you're filing today?

01:09I just I'm not going to comment on that.

01:12I'll just say that by the time this airs, we'll be on that path.

01:15The D.A. is asking for resentencing, which would require the parole board to ultimately

01:21hear the case.

01:22That could take a long time and you don't know what they're going to do there.

01:25Here's another path.

01:26I looked at this law.

01:28You could go into court and say, look, even though you're asking for resentencing, the

01:34D.A. is asking for resentencing.

01:37What we think the judge should do is change the conviction from murder to manslaughter

01:43in the interest of justice, because that's what the law would allow under certain cases.

01:48And that if they if the judge would do that, they'd instantly be free men because the maximum

01:54sentence is 11 years.

01:56They've served 35.

01:58We contacted the D.A.'s office and they said even though they're asking for resentencing,

02:03they would be open to this argument of changing the conviction.

02:07Are you going to make that argument in court?

02:09For anybody who has been paying attention, I've been saying all along that the biggest

02:14hurdle here is to get a D.A. initiating the resentencing, which the D.A. has now done.

02:21We are now free to argue to the judge.

02:24Look, your honor, the based on this record, based on the law, just follow the law.

02:30You can and you should recall this sentence.

02:34You should reduce the murder conviction to a voluntary manslaughter.

02:39The voluntary manslaughter has a three, six, nine, well, three, six, nine plus two or if

02:46it was 11 and then one third of the midterm, I will get into the calculations.

02:50They've done more than the maximum that was available at the time under the California

02:56law that and as you said, Harvey, that would not necessitate going to a parole board.

03:05You know, one of the problems with going to a parole board and I've successfully won parole

03:10board hearings, but that isn't it's not from the client's problem.

03:14It's why put the family who in many cases, as I mentioned, is either in ill health or

03:21at a ripe old age through the trauma of revisiting all of this family drama and not once but

03:31twice, both for Lyle and for Eric in parole hearings, they've more than served ample amount

03:37of time.

03:38I've said it a million times.

03:40It's almost become cliche.

03:42If they were the Menendez sisters, they wouldn't be here.

03:45They had more jurors vote for manslaughter than murder when the abuse was presented in

03:52trial the first time and it's time now for them to be released.

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