Brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez face a Los Angeles court on Tuesday (13) for a vital hearing in an attempt to reduce the time of life imprisonment they are serving for their parents’ murders in Beverly Hills for 35 years.
Defense lawyers are seeking a reduced sentence for the brothers, now 57 and 54, which would allow their immediate release or make them eligible to be considered for parole.
The result may depend on further evidence of the defense to support the brothers’ statement from the early days of the case that they had been sexually abused by their father, a record businessman, and the entertainment industry executive.
It was uncertain if the defendants themselves would be physically present for the process or watch via video, as they did during previous hearings from San Diego’s arrest where they are incarcerated.
George Gascon, a former Los Angeles County Promotor, asked for a new sentence last year, citing new evidence of sexual abuse and records of the brothers’ arrest.
Gascon argued that the brothers had paid their debt to society and should be eligible for parole under the status of the state’s juvenile delinquent, as they were under 26 at the time of the offense.
But Gascon’s successor as a prosecutor, Nathan Hochman, has opposed the new sentence since taking office, arguing that the brothers have not yet recognized and fully accepted responsibility for the murders.
The brothers were considered guilty in 1996 of the first degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive penalties of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole to throw and kill parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, on August 20, 1989, while the couple watched television in their home family room.
The condemnation crowned the second of two highly publicized judgments – the first ended in a wrapped jury – focusing on the darkest sides of wealth and privilege.
Before being arrested, the brothers claimed to have returned from the cinema to find their parents killed by intruders.
At the trial, they admitted to committing the murders, but insisted that they did so for fear that their parents were about to kill them after years of sexual abuse by their father and emotional aggression by their mother. Lyle was 21 years old and Erik 18.
Prosecutors argue that the murders were coldly calculated and motivated by greed, that is, the brothers ‘desire to inherit their parents’ multimillionaire fortune.
The result of the new sentence hearing, which should last two days, can become new evidence of the defense, including a letter Erik Menendez allegedly wrote to a cousin eight months before the murders, in which he described sexual abuse by his father.
The defense also points to allegations from a member of the 1980s Menudo pop band that said he was abused by José Menendez. The allegations were highlighted in a series of Peacock documentaries about the case, which also gained a renewed public interest with a Netflix drama and a documentary last year.
Some members of the Menendez family supported the brothers’ liberation, including the sisters of José and Kitty Menendez. A remarkable exception, Milton Anderson, the brother of Kitty Menendez, who died recently. Anderson had repeatedly opposed to the liberation of his nephews and disputed abuse allegations.
Separately, Governor Gavin Newsom, who has the power to alter his sentences, asked the Conditional Freedom Council to consider whether the Menendez brothers would pose a risk to public safety if liberated.
This content was originally published in Menendez brothers face audience that can decide on US release on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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