Menendez brothers should be freed, two of their murdered parents’ sisters tell court
A decision on whether to resentence brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez for the shotgun killings of their parents was delayed Monday until after the holidays.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic said he needed more time to consider the matter and scheduled a second hearing for Jan. 30.
The brothers, who were convicted of murder with special circumstances for the 1989 killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez, are serving life terms without the possibility of parole. Their attorneys are seeking to vacate their convictions and have them sentenced for manslaughter, which would set them free, while outgoing Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón is seeking a new sentence that would make them eligible for parole.
With the two brothers attending Monday’s hearing via a web link, Jesic allowed two family matriarchs — the oldest sisters of Jose and Kitty Menendez — to provide testimony in person.
“My feeling is 35 years is a long time, especially when you are 18 and 21,†testified Terracita Menendez Baralt, 85, the oldest sister of Jose Menendez. “I think it’s time for them to come home.â€
Joan VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez’s oldest sister, 93, told Jesic that no child should have to endure the sexual abuse the brothers suffered at the hands of their father. At the heart of the bid to get the brothers free is new evidence related to the abuse.
“No child should have to endure what Erik and Lyle lived through at the hands of their father. It breaks my heart that my sister Kitty knew what was happening and did nothing about it, that we knew of,†she testified. “They never knew whether this would be the night they would be raped. It’s time for them to come home.â€
In addition to hearing the aunts’ heart-wrenching testimony, Jesic noted that he also had 17 boxes to review from the 1989 murder case. That, along with his reasoning that the newly elected district attorney should have a say in the brothers’ fate, led him to push back a hearing on resentencing from its original Dec. 11 date to Jan. 30 and Jan 31.
Although Gascón filed a motion to give the brothers a new sentence of 50 years to life, the motion will not be heard until after he leaves office. Incoming L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, who unseated the incumbent with a pledge to be tougher on crime, has said he needs time to review that case before voicing his opinion.
“Judge Jesic’s decision to continue the hearing on the resentencing motion to January 30-31 will provide me with sufficient time to review the extensive prison records, transcripts of two lengthy trials and voluminous exhibits, as well as consult with prosecutors, law enforcement, defense counsel and victim family members,†Hochman said in a statement. “I look forward to thoroughly reviewing all the facts and the law to reach a fair and just decision, and then defend it in court.â€
Monday was the first time in decades the brothers have appeared in court, albeit remotely from the San Diego area prison where they are being held. They could be heard in the Van Nuys courtroom but not seen.
Geragos and Clifford Gardner started the ball rolling last year by filing a petition to vacate the brothers’ conviction, arguing that newly uncovered evidence bolstered the brothers’ allegation of sexual abuse against their father, Jose.
That habeas motion included a letter Erik Menendez sent to his cousin in December 1988 — eight months before the killings — that appeared to corroborate the claims of abuse. It also included a declaration from Roy Rosselló, a member of the boy band Menudo, who alleged that Jose Menendez raped him in 1984 when he was 13 or 14 years old.
The two brothers were convicted of murder with special circumstances, a charge that is punishable in California only by life without parole or the death penalty. The 1989 killings, and the televised trial that followed, have sparked documentaries, movies and television series that have made the brothers two of the most publicly recognizable convicts.
Geragos said the brothers’ conviction should be thrown out in light of the new evidence, which could set them free immediately for the killings at 722 N. Elm Drive or result in them being resentenced on a lesser charge.
Ultimately, it is “in the hands of a respected judge,†Geragos said.
Only 16 seats in the courtroom were available for the public Monday, and about three dozen people lined up in the early morning hours for a chance to snag a spot.
Due to the popularity of two recent shows, the Menendez case has captured the attention of a whole new audience unfamiliar with the case as it unfolded in the 1990s. Tourists still linger outside the Elm Drive Mediterranean mansion where the pair killed their parents as the likes of Kim Kardashian visit them in prison.
The brothers have pursued appeals for years without success, but now they could have a path to freedom.
More than three decades after Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents, the L.A. County district attorney will review what he described as new evidence that the brothers were molested.
In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez bought a pair of shotguns with cash, walked into their home and shot their parents while they watched a movie in the family living room. Prosecutors said Jose Menendez was struck five times, including in the back of the head, and Kitty Menendez crawled on the floor wounded before the brothers reloaded and fired a final, fatal blast.
During their trials, prosecutors repeatedly showed horrific images of shattered features of Kitty Menendez while her husband was on a blood-soaked sofa after being blasted at close range.
Prosecutors would argue the slayings were driven by greed and the brothers’ desire to get their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.
But during the trials, Erik and Lyle Menendez detailed what they said were years of violent sexual abuse at the hands of their father.
Gascón said he would also support a bid for clemency from Gov. Gavin Newsom for the brothers.
But Newsom said he would delay any decision on clemency until Hochman gives his input after reviewing the thousands of pages of evidence in the case.
Geragos maintains case law involving a San Francisco district attorney from a few years ago means the incoming district attorney cannot pull back what the predecessor did on the resentencing motion. “Once you push the door open, you cannot shut that door,†Geragos said.
More than 20 relatives of the brothers have pleaded for them to be released. More than a dozen family members were also present as Gascón announced his decision last month to seek to reduce the sentence.
Nearly two dozen relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez urged the district attorney’s office to resentence the brothers.
There is no question that the brothers killed their parents, but Gascón has said the issue is whether the jury heard evidence that their father molested them, and whether that evidence might have affected the outcome of the trial.
Evidence of sexual abuse, including testimony from friends and relatives of the family, was included when the siblings were first tried with separate juries, which ended with the jurors unable to reach unanimous verdicts.
But when they were tried again in front of a single jury, the jurors did not hear much of the testimony supporting their allegations of sexual abuse. The two were convicted of first-degree murder in March 1996.
The brothers’ work leading rehabilitation programs while in prison also factored into the decision to make them eligible for parole, Gascón said.
The two have been engaged for years in prison programs to help inmates deal with trauma and assist those who have physical disabilities. Both have earned college degrees.
“I will never imply that what we’re doing here is to excuse their behavior. ... If you get abused, the right path is to call the police,†Gascón said. “Even though they didn’t think they would ever be let free, they engaged in a different journey — a journey of redemption and a journey of rehabilitation.â€
The evidence prosecutors plan to consider includes a letter allegedly penned by Erik Menendez eight months before the murders and claims by another man that Jose Menendez sexually assaulted him in the 1980s.
If the judge does eventually agree to resentence the pair, their fate would still rest with the parole board, which will decide whether to release them. Newsom could also veto the parole board’s decision.
Kitty Menendez’s 90-year-old brother, Milton Andersen, criticized the decision to seek new sentences for the killers. He said Gascón had refused to meet with him to discuss his decision before announcing it to the media.
“Mr. Andersen has been left in the dark, forced to learn crucial updates about his sister’s case through the media, rather than being treated with the dignity and respect he deserves,†said Andersen’s attorney, Kathy Cady.
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