The saga of Lyle and Erik Menendez ever seeing life outside prison walls could face a new hurdle after bombshell details from their Comprehensive Risk Assessment (CRA) depicted troubling behavior from both brothers.
The details of the CRA came to light during court on Friday as Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and his office fired off one last Hail Mary to have Judge Michael Jesic halt the resentencing process.
Hochman’s office failed as Judge Jesic said “there was nothing significantly new in the CRA or otherwise for him to stop the process.”
But before the judge made his final ruling, which cleared the way for Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing to proceed, Hochman detailed why new evidence in the CRA reports raised red flags, details he added were not in the original reports requested by former LA DA George Gascon.
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Hochman shared the findings from each CRA report, which is done by state psychologists from the state parole office, that determine the overall risk assessment of likelihood to commit violence after the release of both Menendez brothers. He argued that the pair is not “low-risk” but more elevated.
Each report found that Erik and Lyle, in recent months, had been cited for breaking prison rules for contraband violations, specifically the possession of cell phones.
Hochman shared the findings on Lyle Menendez first, whose “actions perpetrated deceit,” speaking about the contraband phone.
He added that Lyle had “downplayed his rule-breaking” and that his report showed his “entitlement and willingness to meet his own needs.”
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Hochman added that he should have been on his best behavior since his resentencing was on the table.
Instead, Hochman said, he proved that “he is more likely to do whatever it takes to meet his own needs and has narcissistic tendencies.”
When speaking about Erik’s report, Hochman said it was revealed that “he has behavior issues and lacks maturity.” He added that Erik is also vulnerable to negative influence of others — including his brother.
He also referenced incidents as recent as January 2025 of Erik being flagged for possessing and dealing drugs, as well as helping other inmates with tax fraud.
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Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Fox News Digital that the “whole case is political.”
“What makes the Menendez brothers’ case unique is that Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the CRA before Lyle and Erik were resentenced to a sentence that includes the possibility of parole,” he said.
“The whole case is political,” he said. “Normally the report wouldn’t be ordered, much less available, until parole was even an option.”
Rahmani noted that Judge Jesic will consider rehabilitation, acceptance of responsibility, disciplinary history in prison, fairness of the sentence, and impact on the victims.
Los Angeles attorney Tre Lovell told Fox News Digital that while the CRA is significant, it is not an “end all, be all.”
“Both sides will be able to cross-examine the authors of the assessment,” he said. “The court will consider it, but will do so mildly, and be more reliant on the cross-examinations and the specific findings of fact derived once its conclusion is tested in court.”
“Witness testimony and expert testimony are also extremely important in terms of deciding resentencing.”
Judge Jesic also noted that the conclusions of the state psychologists are “subjective and not available for cross-examination in his court.”
He also noted that those conclusions can change and flagged the various warnings attached to using the CRA outside the state parole system.
This was an issue the brothers defense lawyer Mark Geragos hit upon inside the court saying Hochman was “twisting these” conclusions in violation of state parole guidance and using here in this matter is a “dog and pony show.”
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“Last time I looked, cell phones in prison are not a super strike,” he said. “The cell phone violations were known. I was the one who called the previous DA and said there’s a cell phone violation.”
Geragos then invited Hochman to the Menedez Brothers prison to see what they had accomplished in their 35 years behind bars.
Lyle and Erik will return to the Van Nuys West Courthouse on May 13 and 14 for continued proceedings in their resentencing case.
With unresolved issues surrounding the risk assessment report, the upcoming dates will remain pivotal as the brothers seek resentencing following the 1989 murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Fox News’ Lee Ross contributed to this report.
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