Erik Menendez hospitalized with kidney stones ahead of parole hearing

Erik Menendez's attorney on Tuesday announced that his 54-year-old client has been hospitalized with kidney stones ahead of his parole hearing next month, and suggested that he be released before the hearing.

Menendez and his brother Lyle Menendez have a parole hearing on Aug. 21, which comes after the brothers were resentenced in May to 50 years in prison for the 1989 murder of their parents. The sentencing makes them eligible for parole but a panel still has to approve the request. 

Attorney Mark Geragos told TMZ that his client was in "serious condition" and that the younger Menendez should be medically furloughed ahead of the hearing so he could still meet with his legal team.

“It’s a serious condition,” Geragos said, per the New York Post. “I just think he should be parole furloughed, I think is the proper term, and he could be medically furloughed in advance of the hearing so that he can work with the parole attorney and get up to speed and be ready and do it and give it his best shot. I think that it’s the only fair and equitable thing to do." 

The brothers were originally convicted of the Beverly Hills murders in 1996, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The men have argued the shooting was committed out of fear that their parents planned to kill them in order to keep them quiet about how their father, Jose Menendez, allegedly sexually abused Erik Menendez for years.

Family members have testified that the brothers are different men than when they were first arrested and asked courts to reconsider the sentence because of the alleged abuse, which they believe would have resulted in a less severe sentence, had it been known at the time. 

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he does not believe the brothers pose an "unreasonable risk" if released.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.