The household of Erik and Lyle Menendez on Thursday rejected claims by the Los Angeles district legal professional that the brothers hadn’t appropriately taken accountability for the 1989 killing of their mother and father and stated that any lies they instructed throughout their homicide trial had been as a result of trauma and concern.
“Children lie after they’re scared, after they really feel intimidated, and after they change into traumatized. They lie after they don’t know who to belief. However they develop up, they study they usually take accountability,” stated Tamara Goodell, a cousin of the brothers who spoke Thursday at a rally calling for the brothers’ launch from jail.
The household’s rally was speculated to coincide with a re-sentencing listening to for the brothers that would lead to them being instantly eligible for parole after 35 years behind bars. It was postponed to April after the Los Angeles district legal professional, Nathan Hochman, introduced his workplace was withdrawing the re-sentencing movement beforehand submitted by his predecessor, George Gascón. Whereas it’s attainable for the choose to proceed with out the district legal professional’s assist, authorized specialists say the brothers’ possibilities of success have diminished tremendously.
The brothers, 18 and 21 on the time, had been convicted of murdering their mom, Kitty Menendez, and their leisure government father, Jose, and sentenced to life in jail with out parole. They started their newest bid for freedom in recent times after their attorneys stated new proof had emerged about their father’s sexual abuse. The brothers have the assist of most of their prolonged household.
Hochman stated he doesn’t assist re-sentencing right now as a result of the brothers had did not take “full accountability” for the lies they instructed because the case unfolded, together with their authentic declare that they didn’t kill their mother and father and, later, that they acted in self-defense. Hochman has additionally forged doubt on new proof of sexual abuse.
“They’ve lied to everybody for the final 30 years,” Hochman stated in a information convention final week.
Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers, stated they’d already taken accountability and acknowledged their errors.
“We received’t let him rewrite historical past,” she stated of Hochman. “That might be pandering to his fact.”
Their remaining pathways to freedom embody being granted clemency by the California governor, Gavin Newsom, or a habeas corpus petition for a brand new trial their attorneys submitted for courtroom consideration in Might 2023. Hochman additionally opposes the habeas petition.
The high-profile homicide within the Menendez household’s Beverly Hills house shocked the nation and drew in depth media protection. It was a precursor to the OJ Simpson case and spurred numerous exhibits, books and documentaries within the many years following.
Round 50 supporters of the Menendez brothers marched with indicators across the downtown legal justice heart, chanting: “What can we imagine in? Second possibilities!” The information convention and rally additionally drew the assist of legal justice organizations such because the Anti-Recidivism Coalition and LatinoJustice.
“We should always not throw folks away,” stated Michael Mendoza, legal justice director for LatinoJustice, who met Lyle Menendez when he was serving time in state jail. “We should always not quit on our younger folks.”
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4 ladies traveled from Texas, Oregon, Florida and Missouri to attend the rally. That they had discovered concerning the case by means of the TikTok influencer Carrie Webster, who has constructed a comparatively small however devoted following on the platform by means of her movies talking about present occasions and legal justice subjects.
One of many ladies, Meghan Trimarchi, wore a Menendez brothers shirt she had purchased on-line. Trimarchi deliberate her journey to Los Angeles from Oregon to attend the re-sentencing listening to that was postponed.
“I imagine in justice for all victims of sexual assault,” stated Trimarchi, 35. “All of them have to have a voice.”
One other Webster follower who attended the rally was 68-year-old Patrick Burke of Sherman Oaks, California. He remembers when the murders occurred as a result of he had simply moved to Los Angeles. Burke grew to become passionate concerning the case after watching footage of all the first trial throughout the pandemic and got here to the rally to “present assist for the brothers and likewise all abuse victims”.
“To me, it’s just like the #MeToo motion,” he stated. Survivors of sexual assault weren’t believed, he added, and “that’s why the Menendez brothers didn’t come out initially”.
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