Erik and Lyle Menendez will have a new shot at freedom after 35 years behind bars for murdering their parents, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduced the brothers’ sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life. They’re now eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26. The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.

The brothers appeared via livestream video and spoke for the first time in court before the ruling.

“I killed my mom and dad. I make no excuses and also no justification,” Lyle said in a statement to the court. “The impact of my violent actions on my family ... is unfathomable.”

Erik also spoke about taking responsibility for his actions and apologizing to his family. “You did not deserve what I did to you, but you inspire me to do better,” he said.

The judge said he had given “long thought” to what sentences the brothers deserved, taking into account all of the arguments.

“I do give them a lot of credit for changing their lives,” Jesic said.

The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time.

NYC loses control of jail system, Rikers included

New York City will no longer fully control its jail system, including the long-troubled Rikers Island complex, after a federal judge found the city had failed to stem spiraling dysfunction and brutality against those in custody.

Instead, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said she would appoint an outside manager to “take all necessary steps” toward restoring order inside the jails and bringing the city into compliance with previous court orders.

The intervention, outlined Tuesday by Swain in a 77-page order, comes nearly a decade after the city’s jail system was placed under federal oversight as part of a class-action lawsuit brought by detainees.

In the years since, rates of violence have continued to increase, creating a “grave and immediate threat” that violates the constitutional rights of those in custody, according to Swain.

Ex-girlfriend describes Combs’ sexual violence

Sean Combs’ former girlfriend, the singer known as Cassie, testified on Tuesday that the music mogul beat her, fed her drugs and obsessed over her looks and her whereabouts as she depicted a predatory control freak who forced her to spend sleepless days having sex with prostitutes.

The criminal trial of Combs, the once all-powerful music executive, reached a crucial phase with the tes

timony of Casandra Ventura, a musician and model whose troubled and complex relationship with Combs is at the heart of the government’s case.

Ventura told the jury in a packed Manhattan courthouse that in the early phase of their relationship she had been in love with Combs, who was also her record label boss and steered her career. But their romance soon veered into severe violence at the hands of Combs, she said, recounting swollen lips, black eyes and “bruises all over my body.”

Combs has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other charges and his defense team has presented the government’s case as an effort to criminalize consensual, if unconventional, sexual encounters among adults.

French star Depardieu convicted of sex crimes

French movie star Gérard Depardieu was convicted by a Paris court Tuesday on charges of sexually assaulting two women working on the set of a film in which he was starring in 2021. He received a suspended sentence of 18 months, and his name will be added to the national sex offender registry.

The judge also ruled that Depardieu, 76, pay damages of 15,000 euros (about $17,000) to one of the two victims and 14,040 euros, including her medical fees, to the other.

Depardieu was not in court for the ruling. His lawyer, Jérémie Assous, said he would appeal.

Depardieu denied the sexual assaults in both cases.

U.S. unveils Mexican drug cartel charges

U.S. officials unveiled an indictment Tuesday against two alleged Mexican drug cartel leaders on narco-terrorism charges.

The indictment comes after the Trump administration in February designated the Sinaloa Cartel and seven other Latin American crime organizations as “foreign terrorist organizations,” upping its pressure on cartels operating in the U.S. and on anyone aiding them. President Donald Trump called for the designation in an executive order on Jan. 20, the day he took office in his second term.

Those charged were described as key leaders of the Beltrán Leyva Organization, according to the indictment. The organization is one of a number of warring criminal groups that once formed part of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Russia found liable for 2014 jet attack

The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization on Tuesday found Russia responsible for shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine with the loss of 298 lives more than a decade ago, in a ruling that raises the prospect of victims’ families being paid compensation.

Russia has rejected the findings.

A Dutch-led international investigation concluded in 2016 that the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur airliner was shot down on July 17, 2014, from Ukrainian territory held by separatist rebels using a Buk missile system delivered from Russia. Moscow denies any involvement in the MH17 tragedy.

The Netherlands and Australian governments brought the case against Moscow before the Montreal-based global aviation agency in 2022, and on Tuesday welcomed the verdict.

— From news services