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<\/p>\nThe latest news might not be the end of the Menendez brothers’ bid for freedom. Here are the options they still have left.<\/p>\n
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Erik Menendez denied parole by California board<\/p>\n
A California parole board said Erik Menendez poses public safety risk and denied his plea for parole.<\/p>\n
The Menendez brothers’ hopes for freedom via the prison parole process were dashed<\/a> when committees deemed them unfit to rejoin society, citing years of rule-breaking while behind bars.<\/p>\n Erik Menendez<\/a>, 54, and Lyle Menendez, 57, were questioned separately for hours during two days of hearings on Aug. 21 and 22 about the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, their behavior while serving over three decades in prison and how they’ve changed since entering prison.<\/p>\n Despite recent momentum in their bid for freedom with a May resentencing making them newly eligible for parole consideration<\/a> and a groundswell of public support<\/a> for their release, the brothers were denied parole for the minimum period of three years.<\/p>\n “You have been a model inmate in many ways who has demonstrated the potential for change. But despite all those outward positives, we see … you still struggle with anti-social personality traits like deception, minimization and rule-breaking\u00a0that lie beneath that positive surface,” Parole Commissioner Julie Garland told Lyle Menendez while issuing his denial on Aug. 22.<\/p>\n Here’s what the news means for the brothers’ bid for freedom and why officials denied them parole:<\/p>\n Erik’s prison infractions a focus of hearing: Contraband, physical violence, tax scheme<\/p>\n Erik Menendez was the first brother to go before the parole board, and in a nearly 10-hourlong hearing described his mindset at the time of the murders and while in prison. California Board of Parole Hearings Commissioner Robert Barton\u00a0delivered the denial, and said Erik Menendez’s history of rule-breaking was extensive and caused concern about how he would behave if released.<\/p>\n \u201cContrary to your supporters’ beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner and frankly we find that a little disturbing,\u201d Barton said, citing reports of inappropriate behavior with visitors, drug smuggling, misuse of state computers, and violent incidents.<\/p>\n Erik Menendez during his hearing also admitted to participating in a tax scheme with a prison gang. He explained many of his actions as being those of a man with no hope of release who was trying to survive. The brothers’ original sentence was life without the chance of parole.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in tremendous fear,” Erik Menendez said during the hearing about being approached by the gang to help with a tax scam. “I thought this was a great opportunity to align myself with them and to survive.”<\/p>\n “It was an extremely violent yard that I was trying to survive,” he said.<\/p>\n Commissioners also said Erik Menendez’s use of contraband cellphones was a factor in the denial. Erik Menendez said his use of phones to connect with the outside world was not intended to cause harm. Before getting out on parole was a possibility, he said he didn’t think of the consequences of getting caught with a phone.<\/p>\n Both brothers went through educational and rehabilitative programs in the last few decades, which commissioners praised.<\/p>\n Lyle also denied parole over infractions<\/p>\n Lyle Menendez’s prison record includes a history of mentorship, community service activities and pursuing a master’s degree. But commissioners in his Aug. 22 hearing said he still had “anti-social” traits that would make him a risk to the public if released.<\/p>\n His hearing, too, included time focused on his use of unauthorized cell phones, which Lyle Menendez said he used to stay in touch with family.<\/p>\n \u201cI would never call myself a model incarcerated person. I would say that I\u2019m a good person, that I spent my time helping people. That I\u2019m very open and accepting,\u201d Lyle Menendez said during his hearing.<\/p>\n Garland said inmates who break rules in prison are more likely to break rules in society, and said factors in the murders showed he had “poor threat perception.” She said the board found his remorse was “genuine,” however.<\/p>\n Could the Menendez brothers still go free?<\/p>\n The parole denials were a blow to a hard-fought legal battle for freedom from prison. The brothers will be eligible again for parole consideration after some time has passed. Meanwhile, there are still two other avenues to freedom.<\/p>\n