(NewsNation) — A judge is allowing more time for the incoming Los Angeles district attorney to consider the Menendez brothers case before moving forward with a possible resentencing.
The outgoing DA recommended resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, convicted of murdering their parents in 1989.
A hearing date was initially set for December, but the judge has now pushed the resentencing hearing to the end of January.
The judge did allow testimony from two elderly witnesses in the family on Monday, one in her 90s and another in her 80s,
The murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez
In 1989, Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot and killed in their Beverly Hills, California, home.
The crime shocked the public, and initial speculation included the possibility that it was a mob hit related to Jose Menedez’s work in the entertainment industry.
Lyle and Erik Menendez were arrested months after their parents’ death. During the investigation and their trials, media attention focused on their behavior following the murders, including spending money on apartments, designer clothes and cars.
The brothers’ first trial ended in a mistrial, and in 1994, both men were given life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez
Defense attorneys argued that both Lyle and Erik Menendez had been sexually abused by their father from a young age and were afraid for their lives.
At the time of the murders, both men were legally adults, something the prosecution pointed to as a reason they could have left home instead of killing their parents. Prosecutors characterized the crime as one of greed because they believed they were being written out of their parents’ will.
In the first trial, witnesses for the defense included cousins who said they were aware the brothers were being sexually abused. In the second trial, testimony around alleged abuse was limited, as were the number of witnesses that could be called.
Another controversial element of both trials was evidence from the brothers’ psychiatrist, Jerome Oziel, in the form of tapes of therapy sessions. The tapes were allowed after Oziel alleged they had threatened him, allowing him to break patient confidentiality. However, the tapes were initially brought to the attention of investigators not by Oziel himself but by his former mistress, who was also a patient of his.
Resentencing recommendation for Lyle and Erik Menendez
Last month, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced he supported resentencing the brothers to a sentence of 50 years to life, which would make them eligible for parole immediately.
The announcement came following increased public attention to the decadesold case, much of it from social media, with many of the advocates being younger users who weren’t alive when the case first took place.
Other factors include additional evidence that has been unearthed that supports the claims of sexual abuse and changes in how society understands childhood sexual abuse.
At the time of the trial, some suggested it wasn’t possible for boys to be abused, and there was less public discussion about the long-term psychological impacts of that kind of abuse.
