Judge to weigh Menedez brothers’ fate after family bashed ‘cruel’ DA they claim put their aunt in the hospital

A Los Angeles judge will perceive arguments for and against reducing nan sentences of infamous killers Lyle and Erik Menendez connected Thursday, aft family members bashed prosecutors for showing grizzly crime segment photos they opportunity put nan brothers’ aged aunt successful nan hospital.

A proceeding scheduled for Thursday into Friday is group to find whether aliases not nan brothers tin time off situation connected parole astir 35 years aft sidesplitting their able parents successful their Beverly Hills home.

The brothers’ lawyer Mark Geragos maintains they are afloat rehabilitated and person paid their indebtedness to society, but District Attorney Nathan Hochman insists Erik and Lyle person shown nary remorse for nan murders and rejects their communicative astir sidesplitting José and Kitty Menendez successful self-defense successful 1989.

Meanwhile, tensions betwixt prosecutors and nan brothers’ family members reached a fever pitch.

On Monday, nan family’s lawyer revenge a mobility for nan tribunal to publically admonish nan territory lawyer for showing gruesome photos of José’s mutilated corpse.

A lawman territory lawyer flashed nan images astatine different proceeding past Friday without informing nan family members successful nan gallery, and they opportunity nan daze nearly killed José Menendez’s 85-year-old sister, Terry Baralt.

The aged female — who traveled from New Jersey to LA to support her nephews — was recovered unresponsive connected Sunday greeting and rushed to nan infirmary successful captious condition.

“In unfastened court, and without immoderate anterior warning, prosecutors displayed an unredacted, schematic image of José Menendez’s lifeless assemblage — an enactment that retraumatized family members successful attendance and led to nan hospitalization of José’s 85-year-old sister, Terry Baralt, who is now successful captious condition,” nan Justice for Erik and Lyle Coalition said successful a connection Sunday.

“This wasn’t just cruel. It was a clear usurpation of our authorities nether Marsy’s Law,” nan conjugation added, invoking a California rule that gives victims’ relatives nan correct to fairness, respect and dignity.

The DA’s agency issued a connection apologizing for not giving anterior informing earlier it showed nan photos, but it pointed retired that gory ocular immunodeficiency person been a fixture of nan proceedings frankincense acold — implying that anyone choosing to watch those proceedings should person expected to spot them.

“We person many times described successful nationalist documents nan vicious, premeditated behaviour of nan Menendez brothers, shotgunning their parents 13 times done nan backmost of nan father’s head, astatine point-blank scope successful their mother’s face, and past done nan kneecaps to shape a Mafia hit,” nan DA’s agency said.

Resetencing by nan tribunal is 1 of 2 paths to state for Erik and Lyle, who were 18 and 21, respectively, erstwhile they pumped shotgun rounds into their mother and able euphony shaper begetter and past went connected a spending spree pinch their $15 cardinal inheritance.

The brothers were recovered blameworthy of first-degree execution aft 2 high-profile tests successful nan ’90s, but a 2024 Netflix documentary brought their lawsuit backmost into nan spotlight.

The aforesaid year, then-District Attorney George Gascón asked nan tribunal to little their sentencing, citing caller grounds that backed up nan brothers’ declare that their begetter had sexually abused them for years — and that some parents mightiness effort to termination them to hide nan truth.

But aft existent DA Nathan Hochman unseated Gascón successful November, his agency dismissed nan resentencing petition arsenic a hopeless effort by Gascón to revive his failing run and dismissed nan Menedezes’ self-defense communicative arsenic “lies.”