Menendez brothers’ family to push for their release as prosecutors review 1989 case

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The prolonged household of Erik and Lyle Menendez will advocate for the brothers’ launch from jail throughout a information convention set for Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles as prosecutors evaluate new proof to find out whether or not they need to be serving life sentences for killing their mother and father.

Billed as “a strong present of unity” by greater than a dozen relations — together with the brothers’ aunt — who’re touring throughout the nation to Los Angeles, the information convention will happen lower than two weeks after LA County District Legal professional George Gascón introduced his workplace was trying on the brothers’ case once more.

Erik Menendez, now 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, are at present incarcerated in state jail with out the opportunity of parole after being convicted of killing their mother and father of their Beverly Hills mansion greater than 35 years in the past.

Lyle Menendez, who was then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot-gunned their leisure govt father, Jose Menendez, and their mom, Kitty Menendez, in 1989 however mentioned they feared their mother and father have been about to kill them to forestall the disclosure of the daddy’s long-term sexual molestation of Erik.

The prolonged household’s legal professional Bryan Freedman beforehand mentioned they strongly help the brothers’ launch. Comic Rosie O’Donnell additionally plans to hitch the household on Wednesday.

“She needs nothing greater than for them to be launched,” Freedman mentioned earlier this month of Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s sister and the brothers’ aunt.

Earlier this month, Gascón mentioned there is no such thing as a query the brothers dedicated the 1989 murders, however his workplace will likely be reviewing new proof and can decide on whether or not a resentencing is warranted within the infamous case that captured nationwide consideration.

The brothers’ attorneys mentioned the household believed from the start they need to have been charged with manslaughter reasonably than homicide. Manslaughter was not an possibility for the jury through the second trial that in the end led to the brothers’ homicide conviction, legal professional Mark Geragos beforehand mentioned.

The case has gained new traction in current weeks after Netflix started streaming the true-crime drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. ”

The brand new proof features a letter written by Erik Menendez that his attorneys say corroborates the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father. A listening to was scheduled for Nov. 29.

Prosecutors on the time contended there was no proof of any molestation. They mentioned the sons have been after their mother and father’ multimillion-dollar property.

However the brothers have mentioned they killed their mother and father out of self-defense after enduring a lifetime of bodily, emotional and sexual abuse from them. Their attorneys argue that due to society’s altering views on sexual abuse, that the brothers might not have been convicted of first-degree homicide and sentenced to life with out parole right now.

Jurors in 1996 rejected a loss of life sentence in favor of life with out parole.