LOS ANGELES — Erik and Lyle Menendez’s prolonged household is anticipated to assemble exterior a Los Angeles courthouse Wednesday because the district legal professional weighs whether or not the brothers, discovered responsible of killing their dad and mom nearly three a long time in the past, ought to be resentenced and probably launched.
Nearly two dozen relations will maintain a information convention exterior the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown L.A. at 1 p.m. PT Wednesday. They can be joined by the brothers’ protection lawyer, Mark Geragos, and Rosie O’Donnell, one in every of their superstar advocates.
The timing of the information convention is notable. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón stated earlier this month that his workplace was reviewing the convictions of the brothers, who had been discovered responsible within the 1989 killings of their dad and mom, José and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez.
Gascón, a progressive who’s working for re-election, is not going to attend the rally, in line with an announcement from his workplace.
“A call relating to the Menendez case has not been made. Once DA Gascón has decided, the relations of the victims and the general public can be notified,” the assertion stated.
The Menendez brothers are “cautiously optimistic” in regards to the prosecutors’ overview, Geragos instructed NBC Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Erik and Lyle Menendez had been discovered responsible 28 years in the past and sentenced to life in jail with out parole. The case drew extensive consideration on the time, turning the Beverly Hills brothers into family names and incomes them nationwide notoriety.
The authorized saga has drawn renewed public curiosity because the launch of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” a Netflix miniseries co-created by Ryan Murphy, in addition to “The Menendez Brothers,” a feature-length Netflix documentary.
The sequence and the documentary movie chronicle the years of sexual, bodily and emotional abuse the brothers declare they had been subjected to by their father, a file firm government.
The brothers’ attorneys argued they acted in self-defense out of concern and trauma. The prosecution argued they killed their dad and mom to inherit cash and went on a spending spree after the slayings.
The brothers had been first tried collectively in 1993, and people televised proceedings led to hung juries. When they had been retried in 1995, most of their sexual abuse claims had been deemed inadmissible in court docket.
The relations slated to talk at Wednesday’s information convention embody Anamaria Baralt, niece of José Menendez; Joan Anderson VanderMolen, sister of Kitty Menendez; Karen VanderMolen, niece of Kitty Menendez; and Brian A. Anderson Jr., nephew of Kitty Menendez.
O’Donnell shouldn’t be the one superstar who has rallied behind the brothers. Kim Kardashian, who has used her platform to advocate for felony justice points, known as for them to be launched in a private essay shared completely with NBC News this month.
“I’ve frolicked with Lyle and Erik,” the truth TV star wrote partially, and “they don’t seem to be monsters.” She argued that the siblings had been handled unfairly by each the prosecution and the Nineties information media.
In an Oct. 7 information convention, Gascón stated that greater than 300 individuals have been resentenced throughout his time period and that solely 4 have gone on to commit crimes once more.
Gascón was elected in 2020 on a reformist platform. Recent polls present him trailing his challenger, Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor.
Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor who focuses on felony circumstances, stated the renewed public consideration across the Menendez case solely goes up to now.
“It’s within the court docket of public opinion that may present some majority help for the defendants, nevertheless it’s within the judicial court docket the place the choice can be made,” Levenson stated.