A Netflix true crime drama has revived curiosity within the three-decade-old case, with supporters of the convicted brothers arguing the defence could be heard otherwise immediately.
Prosecutors have advisable that Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 killings of their dad and mom, providing the brothers a hope of freedom after 34 years behind bars.
Los Angeles County District Lawyer George Gascón introduced throughout a Thursday information convention that his workplace would advocate the brothers obtain a brand new sentence of fifty years to life.
As a result of they have been underneath 26 years outdated on the time of the crimes, they might be eligible for parole instantly, he stated.
Their resentencing will should be authorized by a choose, and the California parole board must log off on the brothers’ launch.
“I got here to a spot the place I consider, underneath the regulation, resentencing is suitable,” Gascón stated. He conceded that some members of his workplace oppose the choice.
Prosecutors filed the petition on Thursday, and a listening to earlier than a choose may doubtlessly come throughout the subsequent month.
A plan for ‘re-entry’ into society
The Menendez brothers have been sentenced in 1996 to life in jail with out the opportunity of parole.
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot their leisure govt father, Jose, and their mom, Kitty. The brothers stated they feared their dad and mom have been about to kill them to cease individuals from discovering out that Jose Menendez had sexually abused his son Erik for years.
The brothers’ prolonged household has pleaded for his or her launch, saying they should be free after a long time behind bars. A number of members of the family have stated that in a local weather extra attuned to the impression of sexual abuse, the brothers wouldn’t have been convicted of first-degree homicide or sentenced to life.
Mark Geragos, an legal professional for the brothers, wouldn’t affirm to reporters whether or not he had spoken to Lyle and Erik, however stated he believes they’ve heard concerning the district legal professional’s resolution.
Geragos stated a “reentry plan” has already been drafted to assist the brothers re-acclimatised to on a regular basis life if they’re launched.
Anamaria Baralt, Jose Menendez’s niece, stated the district legal professional’s “courageous and needed” resolution means “Lyle and Erik can lastly start to heal from the trauma of their previous.”
Nevertheless, not all Menendez members of the family help resentencing. Attorneys for Milton Andersen, the 90-year-old brother of Kitty Menendez, filed a authorized temporary asking the courtroom to maintain the brothers’ authentic punishment.
“They shot their mom, Kitty, reloading to make sure her dying,” Andersen’s attorneys stated in an announcement on Thursday. “The proof stays overwhelmingly clear: the jury’s verdict was simply, and the punishment suits the heinous crime.”
Grim allegations resurface
Although Kitty Menendez was not accused of abusing her sons, she seems to have facilitated the abuse, in accordance with her sons’ authorized filings.
ADVERTISEMENTOne cousin testified throughout the brothers’ first trial that Lyle instructed her he was too scared to sleep in his room as a result of his father would are available in and contact his genitals. When the cousin instructed Kitty Menendez, she “angrily dragged Lyle upstairs by his arm,” the petition stated.
One other member of the family testified that when Jose Menendez was within the bed room with one of many boys, nobody was allowed to stroll down the hallway outdoors.
The Menendez brothers have been tried twice for his or her dad and mom’ murders, with the primary trial ending in a hung jury.
Prosecutors within the authentic trial stated that there was no proof of molestation, and lots of the sexual abuse claims weren’t admitted as proof within the second trial.
ADVERTISEMENTThe district legal professional’s workplace additionally stated on the time that the brothers have been motivated to kill with a purpose to inherit their dad and mom’ multimillion-dollar property.
The Menendez case has drawn huge public consideration in latest weeks due to Netflix’s true-crime drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”.
Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, additionally lately got here ahead to assert he had been drugged and raped by Jose Menendez, the boys’ father, when he was a teen within the Eighties.
Menudo was signed underneath RCA Information, which Jose Menendez headed on the time.
ADVERTISEMENTRossello spoke about his abuse within the 2023 Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” His allegations are a part of the proof listed within the petition filed final 12 months by the Menendez brothers’ legal professional wherein he seeks a assessment of their case.
