(NewsNation) — Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez will be back in court tomorrow for a highly anticipated status hearing.
With newfound momentum from a Netflix series and documentary that has thrust the case back into the spotlight, they have a new chance at freedom.
The brother’s attorneys argue that, if the pair were tried today, they would be treated with more sentencing sensitivity due to claims of sexual abuse by their father, Jose.
The former District Attorney of Los Angeles County George Gascón recommended resentencing of the brothers last month, nearly three decades after they were sentenced to life in prison. He cited “a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding sexual violence.”
“But it’s salient to understand that our own implicit and sometimes explicit bias around sexual abuse and sexual assault often lead us to severe injustices in our community,” Gascón added.
While the Menendez brothers are not going to be inside the courtroom on Monday, they will appear virtually — and the demand to sit in on the hearing to see them is quite high.
Thanks to the attention the brothers’ case has received recently, there will be a lottery to allocate the 16 seats reserved for the public.
When the brothers were tried in 1993, their respective juries could not reach a verdict. During their second trial in 1995, much of the defense’s evidence, arguing that the brothers were sexually abused by their father, was excluded.
Many of the Menendez brothers’ family members are behind their cause now.
“It became clear that their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive the unspeakable cruelty of their father,” said Joan Vandermolen, the sister of their mother, Kitty Menendez.
Ultimately, the decision to resentence the brothers lies in the hands of a judge. Should the court decline to follow the Gascón’s outgoing resentencing recommendation, the Menendez brothers also filed a writ of habeas corpus last year.
This claims that new evidence proves their convictions were unconstitutional to begin with. Gascón’s deadline to respond with a recommendation to this motion is this Tuesday.
The Menendez brothers’ attorney Mark Geragos had initially said he hoped to see them released by Thanksgiving. Now, he wants to have them home for Christmas.
