Here are Erik Menendez prison rule violations that contributed to parole denial
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Here are Erik Menendez prison rule violations that contributed to parole denial
Erik Menendez was denied parole on Thursday. Parole commissioner Robert Barton said Menendez’s behavior in prison contributed to the decision. Barton said there were at least three fights or altercations he was involved with as revealed during the hearing. He was found with supplies to make prison wine inside his cell. Menendez also had close physical contact with his wife as his then-9-year-old step-daughter was in the same room. He said he had sexual feelings for his wife, Tammi, but they did not engage in sexual activity while the girl was reading a book while the couple “snuggled” He said the violations were committed because he was “miserable” and feeling hopeless” inside the prison.
While Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman addressed Menendez’s possession of a cellphone inside the prison when he opposed their resentencing, other violations were discussed during Thursday’s hearing.
Stream Los Angeles News for free, 24/7, wherever you are. WATCH HERE WATCH HERE
“Contrary to your supporters’ beliefs, you have not been a model prisoner, and frankly we find that a little disturbing,” Parole Commissioner Robert Barton said.
There were at least three fights or altercations Erik Menendez was involved with as revealed during the hearing.
After getting into a fight with “Mr. Brown” in November 1997, Menendez had a physical altercation with “Mr. Farmer” after he was moved to Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility.
“I was guilty of mutual combat. I fought back,” Menendez said, claiming that he had to fight in self defense.
When questioned about the tax fraud Menendez committed in 2013, he explained that he had to commit the tax scheme as he was threatened by a prison gang.
“I was in tremendous fear,” Menendez said, claiming one of his prison friends had been stabbed and raped by the gang. “This was a great opportunity to align myself with them and to survive.”
In February 2018, Erik Menendez was also found to have invited someone into his cell to smoke Marijuana, with the inmate responding that he had received the drug from the same prison gang.
Also in 2018, he referenced trying heroin, adding he was “allergic” to the drug.
In addition to his drug use, Menendez was found with supplies to make prison wine inside his cell, the hearing revealed.
Menendez explained although he didn’t really care for alcohol, he said the violations were committed because he was “miserable” and feeling hopeless” inside the prison.
The commissioner also quizzed the inmate over a couple of incidents involving his wife, Tammi, with at least one event happening with his step-daughter present.
After Menendez was found inside the prison chapel for “excessive physical contact with the visitor,” Menendez was found to have close physical contact with his wife as his then-9-year-old step-daughter was in the same room.
“I was pushing the line occasionally in the visiting room with my wife because I was attracted to her, and we had sexual feelings for one another, and we had no way to really express those,” Menendez explained while maintaining they did not engage in sexual activity. He said the girl was reading a book while the couple “snuggled.”
While other less serious violations include having art supplies and wax candles as well as spray paint inside the cell, in the end, Barton said his “institutional misconduct showed a lack of self-awareness.”
“The phone, again, in the abstract, it’s easy for the people on the outside to look at that and go, ‘What’s the big deal?” Barton said. “(But that) doesn’t change the fact that you knew what you were doing and you knew why you were doing it.”