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Why has Erik and Lyle Menendez's lawyer claimed parole hearing was "rigged"? Mark Geragos speaks out

In a recent interview, the attorney representing Erik and Lyle Menendez discussed the brothers' parole denial.
posted by Shreya Ghosh
Sunday 8/24/2025 at 4:28AM EDT
  • Erik Menendez, left, and is brother Lyle, in front of their Beverly Hills home. They are prime suspects in their parents murder.
    Erik Menendez, left, and is brother Lyle, in front of their Beverly Hills home. They are prime suspects in their parents murder.

    Attorney Mark Geragos has voiced his reaction after the recent denial of parole applications for Erik Menendez, 54, and Lyle Menendez, 57. 

    Representing the brothers, Geragos criticized the decision, highlighting their lengthy prison sentences and the complexities of their case. The ruling extended their imprisonment despite an uproar over fairness.

    On August 23, 2025, the attorney expressed his views on TMZ's Angry Men podcast, as Us Weekly cited, noting,

    "It was obviously rigged."

    Mark Geragos reacted to Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez's parole denial

    In 1996, the Menendez brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings of their parents. Despite admitting to the crime, the siblings stated that they killed their parents in self-defense after suffering from years of physical and emotional abuse.

    The court rejected this defense, ultimately sentencing them to life in prison without parole. Their case remains one of the most controversial and widely debated in American criminal history.

    Public interest in the Menendez brothers’ case reignited after a Netflix documentary revisited their widely discussed story. Responding to it, the Los Angeles District Attorney stated in 2024 that Erik and Lyle would be resentenced. 

    Earlier in May, a judge modified their punishment from life without parole to 50 years to life, opening the possibility of eventual release, Us Weekly confirmed, as Yahoo! cited.

    During a recent conversation with TMZ, the brother's attorney, Mark Geragos, commented on the hearing,

    "It was unbelievable what a s***show this was."

    Alleging that prison officers are often responsible for supplying contraband inside, he said,

    "[It was a reporter who pointed out] that one of the commissioners during Lyle’s actually likened cell phone activity to gang activity, which has got to be the height of hypocrisy and talking about how it threatens correctional officers."

    Reflecting on the incident further, he later explained,

    "First of all, they have tablets [and] they got phones. They pay per minute. The only person who doesn’t profit or get impacted financially by cell phone usage in the prisons is the for-profit suppliers."

    Expressing his opinions and articulating his views, Geragos conveyed,

    "The idea that a cell phone is going to be the reason that you’re not going — in this society [and] in this day and age of AI, where you’re trying to talk about people coming out and having some kind of a transition. The record is replete, with Lyle especially, that he would not fight back when he was attacked in prison."

    During the hearing on Friday, Parole Commissioner Julie Garland noted that Lyle has to prove he can be the same person outside prison walls that he seems to be while leading inmate programs, as per CNN. 

    Opening about about him being a "model inmate," she stated,

    "We find your remorse is genuine. In many ways, you look like you’ve been a model inmate. 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 that lie beneath that positive surface."

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    TOPICS: Menendez