(NewsNation) — Hazel Thornton, who served as Juror #9 on Erik Menendez’s first murder trial, said she wants the Menedez brothers to be eligible to “leave prison now.”
Thornton is speaking out in response to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s recommendation that Lyle and Erik Menendez be resentenced after being convicted in 1996 of murdering their parents.
In a news conference Thursday, George Gascón said he recommends that life sentence without parole be switched to 50 years, and because of their age, the Menendez brothers would be eligible for parole immediately.
“I came to a place where I believe, under the law, resentencing is appropriate,” Gascón said. He said some members of his office oppose the decision.
“If (Gascón) has people opposing him in his office.. I think he needed to call it murder in order to even go forward with a resentencing. A resentencing is far better than a new trial,” Thornton said exclusively on “Banfield.”
Prosecutors filed the petition Friday, and a hearing before a judge could come within the next month or so, he said.
The announcement comes after relatives of the brothers have come forward in support of a reduced sentence, and public attention has once again focused on the decadesold case.
Both brothers are currently serving two life sentences without parole for the murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.
The case attracted controversy at the time, with prosecutors arguing the brothers killed their parents for financial gain and defense attorneys arguing the boys were acting in self-defense after having been sexually abused by their father for years.
NewsNation’s Stephanie Whiteside contributed to this report.