Menendez brothers' bid for release pushed to next year

Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are serving life sentences without parole for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion, will have a new hearing in late January to review their case.

They were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without the chance of parole for killing Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez on Aug. 20, 1989.

During a Van Nuys hearing, a judge heard testimony from two of the brothers' aunts, both of whom pleaded for their release from prison. Judge Michael V. Jesic scheduled a two-day hearing for Jan. 30-31 to hear the various arguments in the case.

Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez's sister, and Terry Baralt, Jose's older sister, asked for the brothers' release, saying 35 years was enough prison time for Erik and Lyle Menendez considering the abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of their father.

"We miss those who are gone tremendously," Terry Baralt, 85, testified. "But we miss the kids too."

Baralt, who became emotional during her time on the stand, told the court that "it's time for them to come home," adding that the brothers "have done a lot of good things" while incarcerated.

Asked by Brock Lunsford, assistant head deputy of the District Attorney's Post-Conviction and Litigation unit, if she knew exactly why her nephews were in prison, Baralt replied, "Absolutely. They killed their parents."

VanderMolen, who turns 93 on Tuesday, read a statement to the court, imploring the judge to release the brothers.

"No child should have to endure what Lyle and Eric have lived through," she said. "No child should have to live ... knowing that at night, their father was going to rape them. It's time for them to come home."

VanderMolen said that she speaks for all members of her family apart from her brother Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez's 90-year-old brother, who has said through an attorney that his nephews' "cold-blooded actions shattered their family."

The January hearing will replace a previously scheduled Dec. 11 hearing, and will also allow newly elected District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who is set to be sworn in next week, more time to review the case. Current District Attorney George Gascón announced last month that he supports the resentencing of the brothers.

Hochman has not yet said whether he will take a similar position in the case, saying he wants the chance to review the voluminous evidence before making a decision.

"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 Monday. "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."

Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56, both attended Monday's hearing via an audio link from prison in San Diego. The brothers did not speak, other than acknowledging they were able to see and hear the proceeding.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos hopes to have the brothers resentenced on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter based on alleged new evidence of sexual abuse.

The defense filed a petition last year arguing that newly uncovered evidence bolsters defense allegations that the brothers were victims of sexual abuse. Interest in the case surged following the release of a recent Netflix documentary and dramatic series.

In the court filing, Menendez attorneys pointed to two new pieces of evidence they contend corroborate the brothers' allegations of long-term sexual abuse at the hands of their father -- a letter written by Erik Menendez to one of his cousins in early 1989, eight months before the August 1989 killings, and recent allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, that he too was sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager.

Jose Menendez was an executive at RCA Records, which signed Menudo to a recording contract. 

Recent documentaries of the boy band have exposed a darker side behind the scenes of drug use, sexual abuse and labor exploitation of the more than 50 members, although not all involving Menendez.  

The prosecutors wrote that "the childhood abuse and trauma incurred by both defendants in this case is sufficient to invoke court consideration" under a new law that allows resentencing in certain cases.

"Both men have been incredible contributions to the prison system as a whole and to their fellow inmates on a very personal level. Erik and Lyle Menendez have done and continue to do their good works and contributions, done without any expectation or hope of ever being released," according to the filing. "They have used their time of incarceration well and now show that they are not a risk to public safety. Erik and Lyle Menendez both deserve a lesser sentence."

During their two highly publicized trials, the brothers did not dispute that they killed their parents, but claimed self-defense, citing decades of alleged physical and sexual abuse by their father.

Additional reporting by City News Service.