When they were sentenced Lyle and Erik Menendezthe brothers imprisoned for life for killing their parents more than three decades ago, constitutional lawyer Ángel Leal was a recent graduate and had entered law school in Florida. “How can I not remember!” he exclaims.
Constitutional lawyer Rafael Peñalver also remembers that the trial was televised. “It was on the news (…) the reports became more and more horrible,” he recalls.
More than 35 years have passed since the Menéndez brothers entered their house while their parents were sleeping sitting on a couch and emptied the high-caliber weapons on their bodies.
Both were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the judicial process, they admitted that they fatally shot their father, entertainment executive José Menéndez, and their mother, Kitty Menéndez, and argued then that they were afraid that their relatives were about to kill them to prevent people from finding out that the father He had sexually abused Erik for years.
Lyle was 21 years old at the time, and Erik Menéndez had turned 18 years old.
Read also: What’s next for the case of the Menéndez brothers convicted of killing their parents in 1989?
This week, the case took another dramatic turn, after Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascónreported Thursday in front of relatives fighting for the brothers’ release, that his office would recommend that Lyle and Erik be sentenced to between 50 years and life in prison.
Since both were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, they are legally eligible for immediate parole.
“I’ve gotten to a point where I think, under the law, it’s appropriate to resentencing,” Gascón said at a news conference Thursday. The Los Angeles County Prosecutor’s Office was scheduled to deliver the petition to a judge for evaluation on Friday.
To gain clarity on this case and its eventual developments, the Voice of America He spoke with lawyers Ángel Leal and Rafael Peñalver, who, based on the law, the facts, the media attention to the case and the changes in the social context, explained the possible scenarios from now on.
Why did this case attract media attention from the beginning?
The trial of the Menéndez brothers was televised in 1996.
Lawyer Leal told the VOA which, in his opinion, was such a notorious case from the beginning due to “the appearance of the accused (who) did not see themselves as murderers, they saw themselves as good people, from a good family.”
“I think he shock “From what happened (it drew attention), how was it possible that they could have committed the act?” the lawyer reflected, alluding to the fact that the brothers did not match “the typical profile of the murderer.”
He also points out that the attention and controversy surrounding the case then had to do with the length and flaws of the process. “In two trials there was no unanimous verdict and it was not until a third trial that they reached the verdict,” he recalled.
A third element that gave them notoriety – explains Leal – was the defense argument, which presented them as victims of sexual abuse. However, the evidence was not estimated.
“Today in the case of [los hermanos] Menéndez, you can argue several scientific advances that recognize the impact of sexual threats on a child. This was in its infancy 35 years ago. I am sure that if the original trial were held today the result would have been very different,” said lawyer Peñalver.
He even recognizes that 35 years ago “the figure of the father was unquestionable” and warns that “today society is much more open, it is known that there are indeed fathers who abuse their children, we know the serious impact that this can have on the lives of their children.
The brothers – says the lawyer – could now “establish that they were acting terrified of what could happen to them that next night in their own home” and that their motivations were not economic.
At the same time, Peñalver highlights, the motion MeToo, which seven years ago offered a platform to make visible and report sexual abuse, played its role in this case. “It has helped a lot to make people aware that when they are victims of any assault or aggression, they should report it and ask for justice,” he maintains.
What does it mean to act in self-defense?
Lawyer Peñalver explains that in terms of American justice “you act in self-defense because you fear for your life, your actions are measured according to the real possibility that you felt at that moment that your life was in danger.”
However, in his opinion, the number of shots that the victims received “changes the situation a little.”
“You can act by killing a person with one shot or with two shots, you don’t have to get to the point of shooting your mother 11 shots and in the face. That’s where the situation changes a little here.” Peñalver affirms that he considers the possibility of this changing “remote.”
If a new sentence is finalized, -explains lawyer Leal- another could be the fate of the brothers. “If we see it not as a first-degree murder with intent but rather as an involuntary manslaughter, that sentence [cadenas perpetuas] It is not the sentence that corresponds to involuntary manslaughter,” he argues.
The role of new tests and rehabilitation
Prosecutor Gascón took into account – as he explained this week – a letter that Erik Menéndez supposedly wrote eight months before the murders in which he described the abuse.
They have also been reviewing allegations from a member of the 1980s pop band Menudo, who claims he was abused by José Menéndez when he was a music executive for the teenage band. Those allegations were made public last year in the Peacock documentary series titled “Menéndez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed”.
“They are taking into account that there was evidence that was not presented at that time and that could have been part of the defense and that can be included in the resentencing,” explains Leal.
He also points out that “no purpose is served at the level of society that they remain imprisoned (…) they are people who are ready to join society and they are people who do not constitute a danger to society.”
Social and family pressure in the case of the Menéndez brothers
The reopening of the case follows the premiere of a Netflix series that addressed the crime titled “Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez.”
Asked if he considers that the Netflix case would have catalyzed the request for the sentence to be reviewed, lawyer Leal stated: “The fact that it is a media case has nothing to do with justice.”
He even stated that it is valid and deserves to be reviewed, if even though it is a media case, it can lead us to do justice.
“If we came to justice because it was a media case and because of a television production or whatever platform it was, how good it is that we have reached a place where they can be judged correctly with the benefit of all the evidence,” said lawyer Leal. .
When Gascón made the announcement that he would seek a new sentence for the brothers, more than 20 family members who have been pushing for their release were emotionally greeted by the Los Angeles County prosecutor.
This time, the family will be key, say the lawyers consulted, because they are giving their testimony that the father of these boys actually raped them sexually and that they were afraid, they were terrified until they went to sleep at night.
The letter to his cousin in which Erik narrates that at night he cannot close his eyes for fear that his father will appear in the room could be decisive.
Kim Kardashian’s interest in this case
The brothers’ lawyer, Mark Geragos, has described them as “model prisoners” who have worked “tirelessly to reform themselves without hope of being released.”
The celebrity of reality Kim Kardashian has been very vocal in support of Lyle and Erik, whom she has even visited in jail, as she recounted in an article she authored published in recent days by NBCNews.
But when Gascón’s request became known on Thursday, Kardashian applauded the decision.
“The Menendez brothers received a second chance at life and will wake up tomorrow finally eligible for a parole hearing. They could be released in as little as 6 months,” Kardashian, 44, wrote via her Instagram story on Thursday the 24th. of October.
“Thank you, George Gascón, for reviewing the case of the Menéndez brothers and correcting a significant error. Your commitment to truth and justice is commendable,” he concluded.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels YouTube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.
Add Comment