By Jaimie Ding | Associated Press
LOS Angeles – Erik and Lyle Menendez will have a new fire shot after 35 years behind bars for murdering their parents, tried a judge.
The judge of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles, Michael Jesic, reduced the convictions of the brothers of life without parole at 50 years for life. They are now eligible for parole under California’s youth law because they have committed crime under 26 years of age. The state -owned board of directors of the state must always decide to release them from the prison.
“I am not saying that they should be released, it’s not for me to decide,” said Jesic. “I think they have done it enough in the past 35 years, that they should have this chance.”
The brothers showed no apparent emotion during most of the testimony because they appeared via live video, but gleams when one of their cousins, Diane Hernandez, told court that Erik Menendez received notes of + in all his classes during her last semester at university.
A Los Angeles judge presides over the hearing before deciding if they should be released after having served almost 30 years in prison for the double murder of their parents. He said on Tuesday that prosecutors should prove that if they are released, the brothers are still a risk of recommending a violent crime.
If he shortens their sorrows, the brothers would still need the approval of the State’s conditional liberation committee to get out of prison. They could then potentially free themselves over time served.
They were sentenced in 1996 to life prison without possibility of parole to assassinate their father, Jose Menendez, and his mother, Kitty Menendez, in their house in Beverly Hills in 1989. The brothers were 18 and 21 years old at the time of the murders. While the defense lawyers argued that the brothers had acted by self -defense after years of sexual abuse by their father, the prosecutors said that the brothers had killed their parents for a heritage of several million dollars.
The case drew public attention for decades – and last year, Netflix’s drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and documentary “The Menendez Brothers” drew attention to the case. Supporters of the brothers have avoided across the country to attend rallies and audiences in recent months.
The hearing begins with the testimony of a family member
The defense began by calling Ana Maria Baralt, a cousin from Erik and Lyle, who testified that the brothers had repeatedly expressed remorse for their actions.
“We, on both sides of the family, think that 35 years are enough,” said Baralt. “They are universally forgiven by our family.”
Another cousin, Tamara Goodell, said that she had recently taken her 13 -year -old son to meet the brothers in prison, and that they would contribute a lot of good to the world if he was released.
Hernandez, who also testified during the first trial of Erik and Lyle, spoke of the abuses of which she witnessed in the house Menendez when she lived with them and the so-called “corridor rule”.
“When Jose was with one of the boys … You couldn’t even go up the stairs to be on the same floor,” said Hernandez about the father.
Judge to govern a lesser sentence
Brothers’ lawyers must prove that they have been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a sentence under 50. This would make them eligible for parole under California’s youth law because they have committed crime under 26 years of age.
Their defense lawyer, Mark Geragos, said Tuesday outside the court, which he wanted the judge to reduce his accusations of guilty manslaughter and gave them time to allow them to be immediately released.
At least seven family members should testify during the hearings.
Los Angeles County prosecutors pleaded against respect. They say that the brothers did not ensure the responsibility of the crime.
Geragos stressed that the purpose of the conviction is “to encourage rehabilitation”.
“This is the law,” said Geragos, “not relate the facts of the crime as the DA wants to do.”
The former district prosecutor and family support
The former District Prosecutor of the County of George Gascón had opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers last fall by asking a judge to reduce their sorrows. His office said that the case would have been treated differently today due to the modern understanding of sexual abuse and trauma, and the rehabilitation of the brothers on three decades in prison.
A renowned petition presented by Gascón focuses on the achievements and rehabilitation of the brothers. Since their conviction, the brothers have obtained education, have participated in self-assistance lessons and have started various support groups for their detained colleagues.
A former judge who said he considered himself hard on crime, Jonathan Colby, told court that he had been impressed with the programs that the brothers began during their prison period to provide assistance and care for older and disabled prisoners. He knew them for a series of visits to prison.
“There are not many prisoners that I meet like Erik and Lyle who have such concern for the elderly,” he said.
The former detainee Ararae Brown cried as he testified on the way the brothers helped him to cure and put himself on the path of rehabilitation, which led to his prison release.
He called the programs they launched “Menendez University”.
“I have children now,” he said. “Without Lyle and Erik, I could still be seated there by doing stupid things.”
The new los year prosecutor
The current district prosecutor Nathan Hochman said on Tuesday that he thought that the brothers were not ready not to be in the process of being because “they were not cleaned” about their crimes. His office also said that he did not believe that they had been sexually abused.
“Our position is not” no “, it’s not” never “, it’s” not yet “,” said Hochman. “They have not fully accepted the responsibility of all their criminal conduct.”
Recently, the prosecutors quoted the analysis of the forensic psychologist who declared that the brothers had recently violated the prison rules by being part of mobile phones inside, which, according to Hochman, demonstrated an inability to regulate their own behavior. He came to the conclusion that they were “moderately more likely” than the others to engage in violence in the community, said Hochman.
Hochman’s office has twice attempted to withdraw the renowned petition, but the two attempts were rejected by the Los Angeles County Judge, Michael Jesic. He could decide on the conviction of the bench or later render a written decision.
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