World Courant
The Menendez brothers face the opportunity of freedom after spending greater than 30 years in jail, with their case being reviewed for doable prosecution by the Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s Workplace following the emergence of key new proof.
On August 20, 1989, Lyle Menendez, then 21, and Erik Menendez, then 18, shot their dad and mom of their Beverly Hills mansion. Jose Menendez was a rich 45-year-old leisure government, whereas 47-year-old Kitty Menendez was a housewife.
The brothers have been sentenced to life in jail after being convicted at their second retrial, following mistrials within the first trial.
VIDEO: Menendez brothers’ new proof ‘strengthens’ the case: authorized professional
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“It was one of many largest instances in Los Angeles and within the nation from the start; Nobody may imagine that these two younger males had murdered their dad and mom on this method,” ABC’s Terry Moran, who coated the trial, instructed Affect X. Nightline.”
The truth that they killed their dad and mom 36 years in the past was at all times clear. Nevertheless, the rationale why they did so has at all times divided and enthralled the nation.
Throughout their first trial, protection lawyer Leslie Abramson claimed that Lyle and Erik shot their dad and mom in self-defense. She argued that the brothers feared their dad and mom would kill them in the event that they revealed their father’s years of alleged sexual assault.
The primary trial resulted in a mistrial on January 13, 1994 on account of a deadlocked jury. After a second trial, the brothers have been discovered responsible of first-degree homicide in 1996 and acquired two consecutive life sentences with out the opportunity of parole.
A brand new authorized submitting has been filed with much more harrowing particulars about Jose Menendez’s alleged abuse.
Based on the brothers’ legal professionals, Erik Menendez wrote a letter to his cousin describing his father’s alleged abuse.
Erik Menendez and his brother Lyle Menendez in Los Angeles throughout their trial on March 9, 1994.
Ted Soqui/Sygma by way of Getty Photographs, FILE
One other alleged sufferer of their father, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, additionally spoke out within the 2023 Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” Roy Rosselló claimed he was abused by José Menendez on the age of 14.
The Menendez brothers have seemingly gone from public enemies to victims as a robust motion builds on-line to free the brothers.
Now underneath a contemporary lens, their story sheds a brand new perspective on an alleged trauma that was little understood on the time: that males may be victims of sexual abuse. Some individuals say this reexamination challenges long-held beliefs and prompts individuals to rethink their understanding of this advanced subject.
“I at all times thought that if the Menendez brothers have been the Menendez sisters, they might be free right this moment and they might be convicted,” Moran stated. “However a sufferer of abuse typically receives some type of leniency.”
Jail reform advocate Kim Kardashian referred to as for his or her launch.
“We’re all merchandise of our experiences,” Kardashian wrote in a private essay in regards to the brothers. “Time adjustments us, and I doubt anybody would declare to be the identical particular person they have been at eighteen.”
Actor Rosie O’Donnell has turn out to be mates with the brothers.
“They weren’t horrible children,” O’Donnell instructed “Affect X Nightline.” “They have been severely, sadistically tortured by a pedophile predator father, and a really compliant and likewise concerned mom, who had little interest in them.”
Within the Nineties, Dr. William Vicary, a former psychiatrist, was a key protection witness within the case after lawyer Leslie Abramson employed him to guage Erik Menendez. Vicary later had his medical license positioned on probation after admitting he altered notes from these conferences.
“Within the ’80s and ’90s, the general public had little or no data about this kind of sexual abuse, particularly fathers abusing their very own sons,” Vicary instructed ‘Affect X Nightline’. “On the time, there have been lots of people who rejected this outright.”
Others, like Alan Abrahamson, who coated the trial for the LA Instances, nonetheless imagine the brothers killed their dad and mom for cash and that the jury was proper, given their lavish spending within the aftermath of the murders.
“The dad and mom have been within the den watching TV,” Abrahamson instructed “Affect X Nightline.” ‘Did they’ve weapons? No.’
Los Angeles County District Legal professional George Gascón introduced earlier this month that he was reviewing new proof within the case in opposition to the brothers.
Some relations stated the Menendez brothers ought to have been charged with manslaughter as a substitute of homicide. A gaggle of relations, together with Kitty Menendez’s sister, agree.
The relations held a information convention in LA on Wednesday, hoping this could affect the attraction of their conviction. The courtroom has scheduled a listening to for November 2024.
The Menendez brothers’ homicide case might be reevaluated based mostly on new proof on the subsequent listening to in November
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