Menendez Brothers Speak Out as Parole Hearing Nears | TMZ Live - video Dailymotion

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Erik and Lyle Menendez say they finally have something to look forward to as they inch closer to a possible release from prison, and they're revealing how they've evolved during their 35 years behind bars.

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00:00to the Menendez brothers who have a big week ahead

00:03because their re-sentencing hearing

00:06will happen on a schedule for Friday.

00:08Now, the bigger date I think for them

00:12is what the governor has already laid in motion,

00:14which is they go before the parole board in June.

00:18So I guess re-sentencing, the best they could hope for

00:22is that the judge says that he's gonna change his sentence.

00:28No, it's not.

00:30On Friday.

00:30No, that is what is on the table right now,

00:34which is if the judge changes the sentence

00:36and eliminates life without parole,

00:39then it goes to the parole board,

00:41but it's already at the parole board,

00:43so it seems irrelevant, right?

00:44Because the parole board's already hearing it

00:47based on what the governor asked them to do.

00:48So regardless of what happens on Friday,

00:51here's why I said no.

00:54There's something else that their lawyer,

00:56Mark Garagos, is gonna ask for.

00:57He is not just gonna ask for re-sentencing.

01:00He is going to ask that the judge change the conviction

01:06from murder to manslaughter,

01:10because it's based on this whole imperfect self-defense

01:13that was available in the first trial but not the second,

01:17and he's gonna say, change it to manslaughter.

01:20If that happens, they're instantly freed

01:22because they've served more than three times the max.

01:25So that's why this hearing really matters,

01:29not really because of the re-sentencing,

01:32which everybody's making a big deal about

01:33because it's already at the parole board,

01:35but if Garagos gets his way, they could be out on Friday.

01:40I don't know that that's gonna happen,

01:41but that's what he's gunning for.

01:42Mark Garagos is the person to talk to,

01:45and you and Mark Garagos spoke with Eric and Lyle Menendez.

01:50They were in prison.

01:50You had a prison interview with them,

01:53which is the subject of our documentary

01:55that is premiering tonight on Fox,

01:58the Menendez brothers, the prison interview.

02:00It is really remarkable.

02:02Now, if they get to the parole board, the hearing,

02:06you're gonna hear them in this documentary

02:08talking about the things that the parole board cares about,

02:10that they're looking very closely at.

02:12What have they done as far as rehabilitation?

02:16Rehabilitation and safety to the community,

02:19those are the two factors that the parole board looks at,

02:23and I think when you hear them on this special tonight,

02:26I think you get to decide whether or not,

02:28one, have they been rehabilitated,

02:30and you can be the judge.

02:31Do you feel like they are a danger to society?

02:36Listen to what they said to Harvey and to Mark

02:39about their life in prison and how it's changed

02:43with all of this attention

02:47and the possibility of getting out of prison.

02:49Hope for the future is really kind of a new thing for us.

02:53I think Eric would probably agree with that.

02:55It's not something that we spend a lot of time on.

02:59I'm striving to be a better person every day,

03:01and I want to be a person that my family can be proud of.

03:03The 360-degree evaluation of where they are,

03:07where they've been, and where they're going to be

03:09is incredible.

03:11Their entire life, they've been spoiled.

03:12They've been coddled, and they've always got what they want,

03:14and this is just something they want.

03:15They wanna get out of prison?

03:18Who have evolved into?

03:23Who I've seen Lyle evolve into?

03:29I'm beginning to like myself, be proud of myself,

03:32and find it okay to like myself.

03:35You never know how long you'll be blessed

03:36to be on the earth, so we don't just sit around

03:38waiting for something.

03:40They have done a lot of good things in prison,

03:43but I cannot fathom the fact that they should get out.

03:47They should not be released from prison,

03:49and I know, Harvey, we go back and forth on this so much,

03:53but I can't, I do not wanna be living in California

03:55and knowing that they're out.

03:56I just don't understand it.

03:57Courtney, I mean, look, polls have been done.

03:59This is a very polarizing issue.

04:02Split down the middle.

04:05You don't really feel like there's a danger

04:07of them being out, right?

04:08I mean, if your position is,

04:10I don't think they should get out

04:11because of how heinous the crime was, that's one thing,

04:16but there's certainly, I hear nothing in them

04:18that makes me go like, all right, if these guys get out,

04:21they're a danger to society.

04:22That's why I don't see it.

04:23They're great liars.

04:24We saw them on the stand lie over and over again.

04:26It was 40 years ago, Courtney.

04:27I don't care.

04:28They can still do it.

04:29Well, no, no, no, no, but that makes a difference.

04:30No, actually.

04:31How?

04:32How does it?

04:33Well, no, no, no, but hold on.

04:34On the stand, they actually copped to the lies.

04:36They had lied before, and when they were cross-examined,

04:40they copped to it.

04:41Their defense was they were sexually abused by their dad,

04:44but they copped to all those lies in those trials.

04:48There's a misconception about that.

04:50I think the bigger thing right now is,

04:52and the shocking thing to me is Governor Newsom,

04:56that he has taken the reins of this case,

04:59and he's gonna run for president in 2028.

05:02This is such a divisive issue,

05:04yet knowing that, he's asked the parole board

05:08to review the case.

05:09If the parole board comes back with a clean bill of health

05:13saying they're rehabilitated and they're not a danger,

05:16he's gonna release them because why would he start it?

05:18Why would he start the wheels in motion

05:20if he's not gonna do it?

05:21And I agree with you, and you didn't understand

05:24how they're gonna keep the anonymity

05:27of the victims in the last story.

05:28I don't understand how in the world Governor Newsom

05:32is taking the reins, as you said, on this,

05:35and seeming like he would let them out.

05:38I think-

05:39If he's gonna run for president.

05:40All I can say is, I think this-

05:41It doesn't add up.

05:42It doesn't add up politically,

05:44but I think there's something that-

05:44Well, that's all there is when you run for president.

05:46I don't know.

05:47I think there's something that moved him.

05:50I totally agree, and I could even see that,

05:53but it doesn't add up with him then running for president.

05:55It doesn't add up for that.

05:56Absolutely not.

05:58Shanice, Houston, Texas.

06:00I think the main thing to just consider

06:02with this whole situation is there are the brother's safety

06:07if they are released, and also how they're gonna be able

06:10to take the opposition and the backlash

06:11that they will receive, and very harshly, might I add,

06:14because of the heinous crime that was committed.

06:17You're absolutely right.

06:18That's the reality.

06:19That is gonna happen, but they're committed,

06:20especially Eric.

06:22I did this interview.

06:23He was so committed to working on childhood trauma issues.

06:27So we will see.

Menendez Brothers Speak Out as Parole Hearing Nears | TMZ Live

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