Menendez brothers' attorney considers asking for murder conviction to be reduced
Attorney Mark Geragos says he may try to get the Menendez brothers' conviction for murder reduced to voluntary manslaughter.
LOS ANGELES -- Attorney Mark Geragos says he may try to get the Menendez brothers' conviction for murder reduced to voluntary manslaughter in a new effort to expedite their potential releases.
Geragos, who has promised to have them home by Thanksgiving, is angling to fast-track their possible release from prison by convincing a judge in Los Angeles to reduce Eric and Lyle Menendez's conviction.
"I think they're cautiously optimistic that they can see some real relief at this point," Geragos said in an interview with Good Morning America.
Some members of the brothers' family are also hopeful.
"They've served a penance and now it's time for them to come home," cousin Tamara Goodell said in an interview.
Last week, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommended a resentencing for the Menendez brothers after new evidence prompted him to reexamine the case. But Gascón seem to support their convictions for murder.
In an interview with ABC News, the D.A. was asked what he tells people in his own office who say the two young men clearly premeditated the murders.
"We're not letting them off," Gascón replied. "First of all, I've been very clear: These were brutal murders, they were premeditated and that's why they got life without the possibility of parole."
A reporter pointed out that the district attorney was recommending that the brothers be released, essentially immediately.
"I am recommending that they be released because I believe the people that they were are not the same people they are 35 years later," Gascón said.
Eric and Lyle Menendez are currently serving prison sentences of life without parole for the grisly murders of the parents, who were shot to death in 1989.
If a judge agrees to resentencing, the case would still require approval from the Board of Parole and Gov. Gavin Newsom -- a process that could a year. But if a judge recommends that their murder convictions be reduced to voluntary manslaughter, they could be released immediately.
"Both paths could lead to freedom for the Menendez brothers," said Misty Marris, a trial attorney and legal analyst. "However, if the judge were to downgrade the charge of murder to voluntary manslaughter, they would be entitled to immediate release. They would've already served the maximum amount of time."
On his weekly podcast, Newsom said, "What matters are the facts, what matters is justice and fairness, not treating them any worse because they're celebrities, not treating them certainly any better because they're celebrities."
The Menendez brothers never denied killing their parents but insisted they acted in self defense after claiming they suffered years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father, fearing for their lives.
Gascón told ABC News that the brothers would likely not have been convicted of murder if the trial took place today.
A Superior Court judge still has to be chosen to consider the possible resentencing. Geragos said that only after learning who that judge is will he decide whether to file for their convictions to be recalled.
