Los Angeles prosecutors to review new evidence in Menendez brothers’ 1996 murder conviction

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles prosecutors are reviewing new evidence in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez to determine whether they should serve life sentences for killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion ago 35 years old, the city attorney said Thursday.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said at a news conference that there is no doubt that Erik Menendez, 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, committed the murders, but that his office will review new evidence and investigate. decision on whether resentencing is warranted in the notorious case that has garnered national attention.

New evidence presented in the motion includes a letter written by Erik Menendez that his lawyers say corroborates allegations that he was sexually assaulted by his father.

The brothers said they killed their parents in self-defense after suffering a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them. Their lawyers argue that because of society’s changing views on sexual abuse, the brothers may not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole today .

Bryan Freedman, attorneys for the extended family, said they strongly support the brothers’ release.

“She wants nothing more than for them to be released,” Freedman said of Joan VanderMolen, the brothers’ aunt.

The brothers’ lawyers said the family believed from the start they should have been charged with manslaughter rather than murder. Manslaughter was not an option for the jury during the second trial that ultimately led to the brothers’ conviction of murder, attorney Mark Geragos said.

Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to fatally shooting their father, entertainment executive Jose Menendez, and their mother, Kitty Menendez, in 1989, but said that they feared that their parents were about to kill them to prevent the murder. disclosure of Erik’s long-term sexual abuse by father.

Prosecutors at the time said there was no evidence of assault. They said the sons were after their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.

Jurors rejected the death sentence in favor of life without parole.

Attorney Cliff Gardner, who also represents the brothers, said he was pleased with the prosecutor’s decision. The lawyers asked the court to overturn their conviction.

“Given today’s very different understanding of how sexual and physical abuse affects children – boys and girls – and the remarkable new evidence, we believe that a new conviction is the appropriate outcome,” he said. Gardner said in an email Thursday to The Associated Press. “The brothers served more than 30 years in prison. That’s enough.

The case gained new attention in recent weeks after Netflix began streaming the crime drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” »

In a statement about men were not sexually assaulted and that men experience the trauma of rape differently than women.

Gascón said he believes the topic of sexual assault would have been handled more sensitively if the case had happened today.

“We haven’t decided the outcome. We are looking at the information,” Gascón said.

He said his office did not know the “validity” of what was presented at trial.

Gascón, who is seeking re-election, pointed out that more than 300 people were convicted during his term, and only four committed a crime again.

A hearing was scheduled for November 29.

Lyle Menendez recently earned a degree in sociology from the University of California, Irvine, through a prison program. Geragos said they were model prisoners even though they thought they would never be released.

“I think it’s time,” Geragos said. “The family thinks it’s time.”

Reality TV star and celebrity Kim Kardashian, who has advocated for criminal justice reform, also took a stand, writing in a personal essay shared with NBC News that the outsized media attention on the first televised trial at the The national level has denied them justice.

She pointed out that “their suffering and stories of abuse were ridiculed in ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketches” that they were portrayed as “two arrogant rich kids from Beverly Hills who killed their parents out of greed.” There was no room for empathy, let alone sympathy.

“Erik and Lyle had no chance of a fair trial in this context,” Kardashian wrote.