Judge rejects Menendez brothers' bid for new trial

Erik and Lyle Menendez, who last month were denied in their bids for parole after serving more than three decades in prison for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in Beverly Hills, have now lost their bid for a new trial.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan issued a ruling late Monday rejecting a 2023 petition filed by the brothers' attorneys, who argued that new evidence surrounding alleged sexual abuse at the hands of their father should warrant a new trial for the pair.

"In sum, the purported new evidence that slightly corroborates that petitioners were sexually abused does not negate the finding of premeditation and deliberation and the lying in wait special circumstance," according to a memorandum of decision issued by the court. "The evidence alleged here is not so compelling that it would have produced a reasonable doubt in the mind of at least one juror or supportive of an imperfect self-defense instruction."

The ruling was the latest setback for the brothers and many of their relatives, who have been working to secure their release. With bids for parole and a new trial falling short, they are now left with only a long-shot request they submitted to Gov. Gavin Newsom in hopes that he will grant them clemency.

The two brothers were initially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the Aug. 20, 1989, shotgun killings of Jose and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez. The Menendez brothers claim the killings were committed after years of abuse, including alleged sexual abuse by their father.

In May, the two were re-sentenced to 50 years to life, automatically making them eligible for parole consideration because they were younger than 26 when the crime occurred. Both are imprisoned at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. But in separate hearings last month, state panels rejected the brothers' bid for parole. They will be eligible to seek parole again in three years.

With parole denied, the brothers awaited the decision on a "habeas corpus" motion filed by their attorneys in 2023, asking that they be granted a new trial.

In that petition, attorneys for the brothers 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 allegedly written by Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano in early 1989 or late 1988, and recent allegations by Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, that he too was sexually abused by Jose Menendez as a teenager.

Attorneys Mark Geragos and Cliff Gardner, representing the brothers, wrote that 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 -- just as the defense had argued all along."

The attorneys added that "newly discovered evidence directly supports the defense presented at trial and just as directly undercuts the state's case."

The District Attorney's Office, however, strongly opposed the new trial bid. In the prosecution's response, Deputy District Attorney Seth Carmack wrote, "There are few murder cases in which the evidence of planning and premeditation is as stark as that presented in this case. Petitioners confessed on tape to murdering their parents, revealing the extent of their forethought and deliberation."

Carmack cited a "pattern of deliberate deceit," in which the two "conspired and planned to kill their parents by, among other things, driving over 120 miles to San Diego to purchase shotguns and ammunition using false identification and a false address" and setting up a "pre-planned alibi" hours before they killed their parents.

The prosecutor added, "While sexual abuse is abhorrent and may be a motive for murder, it does not justify murder and does not negate overwhelming evidence of planning, deliberation and premeditation."

In the memorandum of decision, the judge noted, "Neither piece of evidence adds to the allegations of abuse that the jury already considered, yet found that the brothers planned, then executed that plan, to kill their abusive father and complicit mother ... What is more, the introduction of either of these two pieces of evidence would not have resulted in the trial court giving an imperfect self-defense instruction because neither demonstrate the brothers experienced a fear of imminent peril."

The brothers' first trial ended with jurors unable to reach a verdict, deadlocking between first-degree murder and lesser charges, including manslaughter. The second trial, which began in October 1995 and lacked much of the testimony centered on allegations of sexual abuse by Jose Menendez, ended with both brothers being convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy.

Joan Andersen VanderMolen, Kitty Menendez's sister, and Terry Baralt, Jose's older sister, have asked for the brothers' release, saying they have served 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.

Lyle Menendez is now 57 years old. His brother Erik is 54.

Additional reporting by City News Service.