First appearance on Fox: Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón told reporters he could decide on a conviction for the Menendez brothers in the murders by the end of the week, but the uncle's lawyer said “new” evidence in the case It warns that this may occur. scam.
In an interview with People magazine this week, Gascón said he did not believe the brothers posed a “danger to society” and “probably hasn't done so for a long time.”
Eric “Lyle” Menendez and his wife broke into his parents' Beverly Hills home at 10:30 p.m. on August 20, 1989, and fired a shotgun at them as they watched TV while eating in the living room. . They murdered his father, former RCA Records executive Jose Menendez, and his mother, Mary “Kitty” Menendez.
Watch FOX NATION: MENENDES BROTHERS: Victims or Villains?
Eric and Lyle Menendez listen during a trial in the 1990s. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said his office will review new evidence in the brothers' murder case. (Ted Soki/Sigma)
They later told a therapist that they killed their father because they hated them and that their mother's killing was a “mercy killing,” according to court documents. I ran out of shells and had to go to my car to get them before I could fatally wound her.
Over the past year, they have turned to a new California law to stay out of prison, filing habeas petitions arguing they should have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, and asking Gascón's office to re-sentence them. I have filed a petition requesting this.
Their appeal hinges on two key pieces of evidence. The first is the recently revealed allegations that their father also sexually abused Roy Rosselló, a former member of the boy band Menudo, in the 1980s, and that Eric Menendez sexually abused his cousin Andy. This is a letter I wrote to Kano. In 2015, several years after his death.
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An undated photo of the Menendez family is shown on screen during a panel discussion at CrimeCon 2024 on June 2 in Nashville, Tennessee. Brothers Lyle and Eric were convicted of shooting their parents to death in 1989. (Michael Lewis/Fox News Digital)
Critics say giving Gascón the green light to resentence would be controversial because he is up for re-election in two weeks and faces a strong challenge from independent candidate Nathan Hockman. states.
His uncle's attorney, Kathleen Cady, a prominent victim advocate, said 20 relatives have publicly expressed support for his release despite the sentence being life in prison without the possibility of parole. The uncle said he opposes any change in sentencing.
In a court filing Wednesday, she asked for a court brief to be filed on behalf of Kitty Menendez's brother, Milton Andersen.
Lyle Menendez, who shot and killed his parents with his brother, plans life after prison
Eric Menendez (center) and his brother Lyle in Beverly Hills on August 12, 1991. (Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images)
“Over the past few days, I have received information from several different sources that this letter is fraudulent in nature,” Cady wrote to the judge.
In a telephone interview with Fox News Digital, he did not go into details but said he was prepared to submit evidence to Gascón's office.
”[The sources] “The defense claims it has evidence that casts doubt on the veracity of this 'new evidence' it presented in its habeas petition,” she said.
Eric Menendez and his cousin testified about abuse by Jose Menendez at the brothers' second trial after the first trial ended in a miscarriage of justice.
“And neither of them mentioned the letter,” Cady wrote. “We certainly hope that prosecutors are conducting an analysis of the letter, but if it was written by Eric, the letter did not pre-date the murder, as the defense is currently suggesting. It is very likely that it was written in the last few years.
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The photo shows a letter Eric Menendez allegedly wrote and sent to his cousin Andy Cano eight months before the murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez. (Los Angeles County Superior Court of California)
She also referred to trial testimony by witnesses who said the brothers asked them to lie under oath.
“Given defendants' attempted perjury, 'new evidence' should be viewed with skepticism,” Cady wrote. “But even taken at face value, 'new evidence' would not require instructions on imperfect self-defense.”
Cano testified at trial that she was told about the abuse by her cousin when she was just 13 years old, but prosecutors downplayed the allegations of sexual abuse and said her brothers wanted to live a life of luxury with their inherited money. He then listed everything he had purchased since then. The killings included a Porsche, a Rolex watch, and a restaurant.
Their uncle, Mr. Andersen, agrees with prosecutors that the motive was greed.
The Menendez Brothers: Monsters or Misunderstandings?
The Menendez brothers (Eric, left, and Lyle) sit on the steps of their Beverly Hills home in November 1989. (Ronald L. Soble/Los Angeles Times)
Both Menendez brothers are now in their 50s. They were 21 and 18 years old at the time. Murder case.
Defense attorney Mark Geragos said the letter supports Cano's testimony. He has long argued that modern thinking prevented his brothers' sexual abuse allegations from being taken seriously, and that if they were the “Menendez sisters” they would have been convicted of murder in the first place. I have repeatedly said that this would not have happened.
Geragos pointed out that between 2005 and the beginning of this year, they had exhausted all possible appeals and had given up hope that they would never be free. Both were said to have been exemplary prisoners at the time.
Menendez brothers move closer to being released from “life without parole'' over their parents' Beverly Hills murder case
The exterior of the Menendez brothers' former home, photographed in 1989. You can see the vast pool. (Clark Fogg, former Beverly Hills Police Forensic Specialist)
“I could put two tracks in this,” he told reporters last week. “You can either be just a die-hard, or you can be an irreconcilable recidivist, or you can do what they do: create programs, mentor people, develop great programs, mentor people, go to college, get a degree. You can also.”
Gascón's office did not respond to requests for comment on the authenticity of the letter.
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About two dozen family members who support commuting the sentence met with Gascón's office last week. Cady said the DA's office has not met with Andersen and has not responded to requests for information about the case.
“Mr. Gascón has completely ignored our requests, and it's frankly disgusting that an elected district attorney is willing to violate the Constitution,” he told Fox News Digital. ” he said.
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Cady also argues that the DA election is unrelated to the brothers' habeas petition, which should be dismissed.
“In light of the foregoing, Milton Andersen continues to believe that the sexual abuse allegations are fabricated and false, and that the jury returned the correct verdict and handed down the correct sentence.'' he said. “One of the concerns for him, and it really should be for everyone, was that at trial the Menendez brothers tried to call two specific witnesses to lie on their behalf. And those witnesses testified and said, “Yes, they asked us'' to lie for them. ”
