Prosecutors in the USA have really useful resentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez for the homicide of their mother and father after new proof emerged of sexual abuse by their father.
The brothers have been behind bars for 34 years, serving life sentences for capturing their father and mom of their dwelling in Beverly Hills, California, in a infamous case that was not too long ago the topic of a documentary movie.
They had been sentenced in 1996 to life in jail with out the potential of parole for the 1989 killings.
Los Angeles County District Legal professional George Gascon stated on Thursday his workplace will advocate the brothers’ sentences be rescinded and so they be resentenced to 50 years to life.
As a result of they had been underneath 26 years outdated on the time of the crimes, they are going to be eligible for parole instantly, he stated.
“I got here to a spot the place I consider, underneath the regulation, resentencing is acceptable,” Gascon instructed reporters.
“It’s salient to know that our personal implicit and generally specific bias round sexual abuse and sexual assault usually leads us to extreme injustices in our group,” he stated.
Gascon added some members of his workplace opposed the choice to advocate the resentencing.
Feared mother and father would kill them
Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted they fatally shot their leisure govt father, Jose Menendez, and their mom, Kitty Menendez, within the den of their Beverly Hills mansion.
The brothers stated they feared their mother and father had been about to kill them to cease folks from discovering out that Jose Menendez had sexually abused Erik Menendez for years.
The Menendez brothers had been tried twice for the murders, with the primary trial ending in a hung jury.
Prosecutors on the time argued that there was no proof of molestation, and plenty of particulars of their story of sexual abuse weren’t permitted within the second trial.
They argued the motive for the murders was the household’s multimillion-dollar fortune.
The brothers have unsuccessfully appealed their convictions.
The Menendez case has gained new consideration not too long ago after Netflix started streaming the true-crime drama collection, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Prosecutors are reviewing a letter, written by Erik Menendez when he was 13 years outdated to his cousin, that his attorneys say backs up the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father.
There’s additionally proof from Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, who additionally revealed in a 2023 Peacock movie that he was drugged and raped twice by the brothers’ father when he was a teen within the Eighties.
Menudo was signed underneath RCA Information, which was headed by Jose Menendez.
These allegations are a part of the proof listed within the petition filed final 12 months by the Menendez brothers’ lawyer to assessment their case.
Household assist
The brothers’ prolonged household have pleaded for his or her launch.
At a latest information convention, a number of relations stated the brothers’ 1996 sentence was at a time when folks didn’t wish to hear about sexual abuse.
“If Lyle and Erik’s case had been heard right now, with the understanding we now have about abuse and PTSD, there is no such thing as a doubt in my thoughts that their sentencing would have been very completely different,” stated Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers.
However some relations assume they need to keep in jail. Kitty Menendez’s brother, Milton Andersen, 90, filed a authorized transient asking the court docket to maintain the brothers’ unique punishment.
“They shot their mom, Kitty, reloading to make sure her loss of life,” Andersen’s attorneys stated in an announcement. “The proof stays overwhelmingly clear: The jury’s verdict was simply, and the punishment suits the heinous crime.”
Gascon instructed reporters regardless of their life sentences, the brothers labored on redemption and rehabilitation inside jail.
“I consider that they’ve paid their debt to society,” he stated.
