Resentencing hearings will resume later this week for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who have spent 35 years in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents.

Last week, a Los Angeles judge ruled that resentencing could go forward for the notorious brothers, who are currently serving life sentences without parole for the killings.

A former prosecutor had recommended resentencing, which could make them immediately eligible for parole.

The hearings, which will take place in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys, Calif., are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

How we got here

Erik Menendez, left, and his brother, Lyle, in front of their Beverly Hills home in an undated photo. (Getty Images)

Erik and Lyle Menendez murdered their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, with shotguns at their Beverly Hills mansion on Aug. 20, 1989.

They initially denied the killings, telling police they suspected the slayings were related to Jose Menendez’s work as an entertainment executive. They were arrested in March 1990.

At trial three years later, the brothers testified they committed the murders in self-defense after years of sexual abuse by their father and of which their mother was aware.

Prosecutors argued that their motive for the killings was a multimillion-dollar inheritance.

They were tried twice. A mistrial was declared in 1994 due to a hung jury. In 1996, Erik and Lyle were convicted on first-degree murder charges and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Many details of the alleged sexual abuse they suffered were not permitted during the retrial.

In 1998, a California appeals court upheld their convictions. Subsequent appeals to the higher courts were also denied.

Their renewed fight for freedom

Booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections of Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Department of Corrections via AP)

The case was thrust back into the public eye last year thanks to the hit Netflix drama series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.

Last fall, then-Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommended that the brothers be resentenced, saying, “I believe they have paid their debt to society.”

Gascón said he believed that Erik and Lyle, who are now 54 and 57 years old respectively, had rehabilitated themselves while in jail, earning advanced degrees, participating in self-help classes and creating various support groups for their fellow inmates. Gascón also said his office was reviewing new evidence that their attorneys said corroborates the allegations of sexual abuse.

He recommended that their sentence be reduced from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life, making them immediately eligible for parole under California law because they were younger than 26 when they committed the killings. (Erik was 18; Lyle was 21.)

But Gascón’s successor, Nathan Hochman, opposed resentencing, saying that the brothers had failed to take “complete responsibility” for the double murder, including their initial claim that they did not kill their parents.

“These murders were calculated, premeditated, cold-blooded killings,” Hochman said in a statement. “Our position remains clear: Until the Menendez brothers finally come clean with all their lies of self-defense and suborning and attempting to suborn perjury, they are not rehabilitated and pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.”

A ‘grotesque spectacle’ in court

L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. (David Swanson/Reuters)

At a hearing in court on April 11, prosecutors repeatedly showed graphic images — including a bloody crime scene photo of Jose Menendez’s body — while arguing against resentencing.

Family members who were in court said they were shocked and appalled by the display.

Terry Baralt, Erik and Lyle Menendez’s 85-year-old aunt and Jose Menendez’s sister, had traveled to California from her home in New Jersey for the hearing.

Baralt, who is being treated for colon cancer, was found unresponsive in her hotel room on Sunday morning. She was hospitalized in critical condition, the family said in a statement.

The family later filed a complaint accusing the L.A. District Attorney’s Office of violating Marsy’s Law, which is designed to protect the families of crime victims. They allege that prosecutors needlessly showed the crime scene images without warning the family members in the courtroom.

“A grotesque spectacle occurred last Friday in this Court,” attorneys representing 20 members of the Menendez family said in a Tuesday filing. “This Court should ensure such a mockery never occurs again.”

The DA’s office apologized “for not giving prior warning” before showing the images, saying in a statement Sunday that it never intended to “cause distress or pain to individuals who attend a court hearing.”

Hochman said he doesn’t plan on showing any of the gruesome images during this week’s resentencing, but defended displaying them.

“We wanted to make the judge understand that it starts with the brutal, Mafia-staged hit of both Kitty and Jose Menendez,” Hochman said.

What’s next?

Relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez, including their aunt, Terry Baralt, center, stand outside the courthouse after a hearing Friday. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)

If the Menendez brothers are not granted parole through resentencing, they may still be eligible for release through their bid for clemency.

In February, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a state parole board to perform a risk assessment to determine if the brothers continue to pose a risk to public safety.

The board’s assessment is expected to be completed following a final meeting with each brother on June 13.

A clemency hearing is expected to follow.