Menendez brothers hearing will be open to the public, with lottery deciding who gets 16 courtroom seats
Members of the public will be able to attend an upcoming court hearing in Van Nuys, California, for Lyle and Erik Menendez, who are serving life sentences for the 1989 murder of their parents. A lottery will decide who takes 16 seats in the courtroom.
The hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court will address the brothers' habeas corpus petition, which their appellate lawyers filed last year to request a review of potential new evidence. It seeks to vacate their first-degree murder convictions in pursuit of a lesser charge such as manslaughter, which could result in an early release from prison.
The Menendez brothers have spent more than three decades behind bars for fatally shooting their parents, Jose and Kitty, and their Beverly Hills home on the evening of Aug. 20, 1989. Prosecutors argued the murders were motivated by greed while the brothers told the court over the course of two trials in the early to mid-1990s that they were sexually and physically abused as children.
They admitted to the killings but contended that they had shot their parents in self-defense as they feared for their lives.
The hearing in the case is set for 10 a.m. Monday at Van Nuys Courthouse West on the ninth floor.
Lottery tickets will be handed out to members of the public between 8 and 9 a.m. that morning and tickets for seats will be released at 9:30 a.m., the Los Angeles County Superior Court announced Thursday. The 16 people given seats will be issued badges to secure their place in the courtroom.
In their pursuit of being freed from state prison, Lyle and Erik Menendez are also set for a resentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 11. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón recommended resentencing for the brothers last month. However, the court date granted by that recommendation will take place when incoming District Attorney Nathan Hochman is in office.
Gascón was rejected by voters in the Nov. 5 election.
Hochman has said he must still review the case before making his own decision on whether or not to recommend resentencing. The court date is scheduled just nine days after he officially becomes LA County's new district attorney on Dec. 2.
In a third and final path toward an early release, the Menendez brothers have also petitioned Gov. Gavin Newsom for clemency — a pursuit backed by Gascón, who publicly his announced support and wrote letters to Newsom to advocate for it. But earlier this week, Newsom said he would leave a decision on the brothers' case to Hochman.
"The Governor will defer to the DA-elect's review and analysis of the Menendez case prior to making any clemency decisions," Newsom's office said in a statement.
Several family members have stood beside Lyle and Erik Menendez in their efforts to be freed from prison, defending their allegations of abuse and saying they have shown positive behavior while in prison and deserve to be released. They held a news conference in mid-October to publicly announce their support.
Meanwhile, at least one of the brothers' relatives, their uncle and brother of their mother Kitty, has spoken out against a potential early release.