Menendez brothers resentencing hearing pushed back as aunts speak in court: "I want them home"
Erik and Lyle Menendez made their first court appearance in years Monday after their attorneys requested that a judge review potential new evidence and consider resentencing in the brothers' first-degree murder convictions for the 1989 killings of their parents.
The focus of the status hearing was the Menendez brothers' habeas corpus petition filed last year by their appellate attorneys, which argues that two pieces of evidence not presented during the brothers' two trials in the 1990s support their allegations of sexual abuse by their father.
The 21-page petition states that the evidence helps show that Erik and Lyle Menendez killed their parents in self-defense, and undercuts the prosecution's argument during the second trial that the brothers were lying about the abuse and the killings were motivated by greed.
Technical difficulties prevented the brothers from appearing remotely on video, but they could be heard in court via audio.
"It was the first time that Lyle and Erik have been, at least remotely, in a courtroom in a number of years," said the brothers' attorney, Mark Geragos.
Aunts offer testimony, judge reschedules hearing
The court also heard testimony from the Menendez brothers' aunts, Terry Baralt and Joan VanderMolen, who spoke in support of the brothers.
"It was quite a moving experience, at least where we sit, to listen to Aunt Terry [Baralt] and Aunt Joan [VanderMolen], who are respectively, Jose and Kitty's older sisters," Geragos said. "Both made impassioned pleas with the judge to send the brothers home."
Baralt and VanderMolen also briefly spoke after the hearing.
"I want them home," said VanderMolen, 92. "They should have never been in such situations. What can a kid do when his father's — I can't stand it."
"Thirty-five years is a long time," Baralt added.
Geragos said that the next hearings will be on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31, pushed back from Dec. 11.
"We're hoping that by the end of that, or sometime sooner, that we will, in fact, get the brothers released," Geragos said.
A history of the Menendez brothers case
Erik and Lyle Menendez fatally shot their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, on Aug. 20, 1989, at their Beverly Hills home. They were arrested months later and charged with first-degree murder.
From there, they faced two jury trials in 1993 and 1995, with the first ending in a hung jury and mistral, and the second resulting in guilty verdicts.
They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in July 1996.
The case gained renewed public attention after a Netflix documentary and drama series recently released this year, and was a focus of the recent election for Los Angeles County district attorney.
Several of the brothers' family members have called for their release in light of generational shifts in conversations about abuse.
Decisions on resentencing, clemency
Erik and Lyle Menendez were set for another hearing on Dec. 11 after LA County District Attorney George Gascón made a recommendation for resentencing last month.
District Attorney-elect Nathan Hochman, who unseated Gascón in the Nov. 5 election, takes office on Dec. 2. On Monday, Judge Michael Jesic moved back the resentencing recommendation hearing until late January.
Hochman issued a statement after hearing saying that the decision to reschedule would provide him 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."
"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," Hochman said.
Gascón's office has said that the habeas petition and possible resentencing take different factors into consideration.
"While the habeas petition raises questions about the evidence at trial, the resentencing request focuses on rehabilitation and behavior during time served," the DA's office said in an Oct. 24 statement.
Although Erik and Lyle Menendez have also petitioned for clemency, Gov. Gavin Newsom said earlier this month he will defer the decision to allow Hochman to review the case upon entering office.
The Menendez brothers' habeas corpus petition
Appellate attorneys for the Menendez brothers have asked the court to review a sworn declaration by Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin American boy band, Menudo, who alleged he was raped in the 1980s by Jose Menendez. Rossello was a teenager at the time the band was signed to RCA Records, where Jose Menendez was an executive.
The other piece of potential new evidence is a letter said to be written by Erik to his cousin, Andy Cano, about eight months before the killings. As cited in court filings, the letter reads, in part, "Its (sic) still happening Andy but its worse for me now. I can't explain it... I never know when its (sic) going to happen and its driving me crazy."
"Every night I stay up thinking he might come in. I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I'm afraid. You just don't know dad like I do," the letter continues. "He's crazy! He's warned me a hundred times about telling anyone especially Lyle... I don't know I'll make it through this. I can handle it, Andy. I need to stop thinking about it."
Jose Menendez's younger sister, Marta Cano, discovered the letter, court filings state, while one of the brothers' attorneys, Cliff Gardner, found out about Rossello's allegation in November 2022.
In court filings, attorneys for the Menendez brothers argue that these two new pieces of potential evidence contradict the prosecution's argument in the second trial that Jose Menendez was "not the kind of man" to abuse children and was "not a violent and brutal man."
"In short the new evidence not only shows that Jose Menendez was very much a violent and brutal man who would sexually abuse children, but it strongly suggests that -- in fact -- he was still abusing Erik Menendez as late as December 1988," court documents state. "Just as the defense had argued all along."
Response from family members, law enforcement
The Beverly Hills Police Department, which investigated the 1989 killings, released a statement after Gascón announced his resentencing recommendation, saying detectives "presented relevant facts and evidence" to prosecutors that led to the filing of criminal charges.
Several family members have supported the Menendez brothers' bid for freedom, appearing at a news conference in downtown Los Angeles last month to plead for their release.
"I never thought this day would come. I am Kitty's sister," VanderMolen told reporters at the time. "For many years, I struggled with ... what happened to my sister's family. It was a nightmare none of us could've imagined. But as details of Lyle and Erik's abuse came to light, it became clear that their actions – while tragic – were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father."
VanderMolen emphasized that the brothers "were just children — children who could've been protected and were instead brutalized in the most horrific ways."
"The world was not ready to believe that boys could be raped or that young men could be victims of sexual violence," she said. "Today we know better."
Meanwhile, at least one of the Menendez brothers' relatives, maternal uncle Milton Andersen, has spoken out against the possibility of an early release, with his attorney expressing opposition to the court.
Gardner, who filed the habeas petition on the brothers' behalf in May 2023, told CBS News' "48 Hours" earlier this year that the newly discovered letter and Rossello's affidavit proves their murder convictions should be vacated.
"The boys were abused as children. They were abused their whole life. ... And this is a manslaughter case, not a murder case. It's just that simple," Gardner said. "My hope in the case is that the judge will realize that this new evidence is indeed credible and persuasive, and he'll vacate the convictions."