Menendez Brothers Case: L.A. District Attorney Conducting “Review” Of Evidence From 1990s Trial; Parses Judgement On Resentencing & Original Proceedings

Back in the news with Ryan Murphy’s Netflix hit Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the siblings’ sordid 1990s murder case today found itself in the spotlight again thanks to the Los Angeles County District Attorney.

Offering no insight or judgement on evidence from the Menendez Brothers and a habeas petition for resentencing, George Gascón strode in front of the microphones Thursday to declare his office was “reviewing” the case.

“We’re not saying that there was anything wrong with the original trial,” the reelection seeking Gascón added, noting that the DA’s office has “been given evidence” on the 1989 killing of Jose and Kitty Menendez by their sons.  A November 29 hearing has been set on the petition by the now 55-years-old Erik and the 56-year-old Lyle that they were the subject of sexual abuse my their music industry exec father, as was at least one member of boy band Menudo.

“We are not, at this point ready to say that we are the belief or do not believe that information,” said DA Gascón in the abruptly called press conference Thursday. “But we’re here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side, whether they deserve to be resentenced, even though they were clearly the murderers.”

After an initial media frenzied trial ended in deadlocked juries, both brothers were convicted in 1996 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Since then, a plethora of books, articles, true crime shows and films have reexamined and relitigated the case. Most recently, the Peacock series Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed reopened the sexual abuse allegations and widen the scope pf Jose Menendez’s claimed crimes.

Refusing to be pinned down on what could happened next and the “validity” of the new-ish evidence, Gascón said this afternoon that he was : “not here to make judgment of that, but there is no question that today there would have been a greater level of sensitivity to the way the case was looked at.”

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