Expert Thinks Lyle Menendez Will Be Denied Parole Like His Brother — But Here's Why Cases Could Be Different By Nicole Acosta

With Lyle Menendez set to appear before the parole board on Friday, Aug. 22 — just one day after his brother Erik was denied — a legal expert says he may face a similar outcome, unless key differences emerge during the hearing.

“I would be surprised if it were different,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani tells PEOPLE. “The only reason it would be different would be if his parole commissioners are different.”

“It would be really, a miscarriage of justice if one brother were paroled and the other were not, because they’re so similarly situated,” Rahmani adds.

Erik was denied release on Thursday, Aug. 21, more than three decades after the two were convicted of fatally shooting their parents, José and Kitty Menendez, in 1989 in their Beverly Hills, Calif., home.

They were initially sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole but got a long-awaited chance at freedom in May after a Los Angeles judge reduced their sentences to 50 years to life. This made them eligible for parole because they were under 26 when they committed the murders. Erik was 18 and Lyle was 21.

In explaining why the board voted to deny Erik parole, Commissioner Robert Barton cited his infractions behind bars, which reportedly included drug and cellphone use and involvement in a tax fraud scheme, according to The New York Times.

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At their resentencing, Judge Michael Jesic described the brothers as model inmates. So, according to Rahmani, if Lyle’s behavior behind prison is unlike Erik’s, it could lead to a different outcome in terms of parole.

“None of these were violent violations in my opinion, that led the commissioners to think that they pose an unreasonable risk to the public,” Rahmani says.

Barton also called the brothers’ killings “devoid of human compassion,” telling Erik, “The killing of your mother especially showed a lack of empathy and reason,” per the outlet.

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The brothers have said they acted in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, which they alleged their mother was aware of but did nothing to stop. Prosecutors said they killed their parents out of greed, citing their lavish spending spree after the slayings.

According to Rahmani, the brothers’ claim of self-defense due to past sexual abuse doesn’t justify the killings under California law.

“Freedom is deadly force,” he says. “You have to be in imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury. And I just don’t think they can prove it.”

Erik now must wait at least three years before he’s eligible for another parole hearing. If Lyle is also denied, both brothers still have other potential paths to release — including a petition for habeas corpus filed in 2023, which seeks to overturn their murder convictions based on newly discovered evidence of past abuse by their father, as well as the possibility of clemency at the hands of Gov. Gavin Newsom.