By Jackie Luna and Daniel Trotta
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Los Angeles County judge on Monday postponed a hearing over the possible release of Lyle and Erik Menendez after 35 years in prison for the shotgun murder of their parents, saying he wanted to hear from a new district attorney due to take office on Dec. 3.
“I’m not ready to go forward,” Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic told a hearing. “I want the new administration to go through the documents.”
The Menendez brothers were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the second of two highly publicized trials for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.
The case captivated the U.S. in the 1990s because of the brothers’ wealth and privilege as the sons of a record company and entertainment industry executive. A recent Netflix documentary series raised the new evidence and revived public interest in the case.
That evidence supported their claims they were sexually abused by their father for years, leading to the outgoing district attorney to support their release.
In Monday’s hearing, defense lawyers sought to reduce their first-degree murder conviction to voluntary manslaughter, which could make them eligible for release.
The judge rescheduled the hearing for Jan. 30 but still decided to hear the testimony of two Menendez relatives who support the release of the brothers, now 56 and 53. The brothers were meant to follow the proceeding by video link from prison, but technical difficulties prevented them from watching, at least temporarily.
The brothers said they were the victims of abuse while prosecutors argued the pair sought the multimillion-dollar fortune of their parents. Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18 at the time of the murders.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said the new evidence combined with a more modern understanding of sexual abuse led him to ask for resentencing of the Menendez brothers, saying they had paid their debt to society.
But Gascon was later defeated in the Nov. 5 election and will leave office on Dec. 3.
Incoming District Attorney Nathan Hochman has yet to take a position on the case.
Gascon has said there is no doubt the brothers killed their parents but cited a letter Erik Menendez purportedly wrote to a cousin eight months before the murders in which he referred to the abuse.
Investigators also are examining allegations from a member of the 1980s pop band Menudo who said he was abused by Jose Menendez. Those allegations were publicized last year in Peacock documentary series called “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.”
Had the evidence been presented at trial, the jury may have reached a different outcome, Gascon said.
(Reporting by Jackie Luna in Los Angeles and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Michael Perry and Jonathan Oatis)
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