A Los Angeles County judge on Nov. 25 rescheduled a hearing to possibly resentence convicted killers Erik and Lyle Menendez, delaying an effort to release the pair from prison.
Judge Michael V. Jesic made no decision in the case and scheduled a two-day hearing for Jan. 30 after hearing statements from two of the brothers’ aunts, who pleaded for their release, saying new evidence backs their claims of sexual abuse by their father.
The hearing will replace a previously set Dec. 11 hearing, and will allow newly elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who will be sworn in next week, more time to review the case.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos and outgoing District Attorney George Gascón said they filed for habeas corpus—a challenge of the brothers’ incarceration—after public calls for setting the brothers free after nearly 35 years in a San Diego prison.
The two were convicted of killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, with a shotgun while they were eating dinner and watching TV at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Geragos said after the hearing that it was “quite the moving experience” to hear the aunts make pleas for the brothers’ release.
In court documents filed for Monday’s hearing, Geragos asked the judge to resentence the men on lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter, based on alleged new evidence.
Since the brothers’ 1996 convictions, evidence has emerged that the defense claims proves the sexual abuse against Erik Menendez.
In court documents, Geragos featured a letter written by Erik Menendez to one of his cousins in early 1989, eight months before the August 1989 killings. The letter corroborates the brothers’ allegations of long-term sexual abuse, according to the attorney.
Another possible sexual abuse victim has also come forward. Roy Rosselló, former member of the boy band Menudo, claims he was also abused by Jose Menendez as a teen, according to the defense.
The Menendez brothers, held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, appeared virtually at the Van Nuys courthouse but did not speak during Monday’s hearing.
The media presence was huge as Joan VenderMol, sister of Kitty Menendez, entered the facility at about 10:30 a.m.
The hearing gave Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, their first opportunity to speak publicly in 28 years, but the video link malfunctioned in the courtroom. Instead, they acknowledged they were able to hear the proceeding.
Gascón had already planned to file a court petition to resentence the two, who are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The district attorney and family members say the brothers’ good behavior in prison over the last three decades shows they are ready to reenter society.
Gascón filed for a resentencing hearing in late October.
District Attorney-elect Hochman has not yet said whether he will follow Gascón’s footsteps and continue pursuing release for the brothers, saying he wants to review the evidence before deciding.
