Menendez Family Steps Up Pressure on D.A. to Free Brothers

The family of Lyle and Erik Menendez held a press conference Wednesday to urge D.A. George Gascón to help free the brothers, who have served 34 years in prison for murdering their parents.

The brothers’ defense team has argued that new evidence shows they were victims of sexual abuse by their father, Jose Menendez.

Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the men, argued that they were “victims of a culture that was not ready to listen.”

“Lyle and Erik deserve a chance to heal,” she said. “Our family deserves a chance to heal with them.”

Gascón is considering the new evidence, which includes a letter from Erik Menendez to another cousin, sent before the murders in which he relates his father’s abuse.

Roy Rossello, a member of the boy band Menudo, has also come forward to accuse Jose Menendez of sexually assaulting him when he was 13 or 14. The defense argues that the new evidence might have changed the outcome of the trial, and led to a manslaughter conviction rather than a conviction for first degree murder.

The case has drawn renewed interest thanks to the Netflix docuseries “Monsters,” which was the most-watched show on the platform in its first two weeks of release last month.

The Menendez family has denounced the series, calling it “a phobic, gross, anachronistic, serial episodic nightmare that is not only riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods but ignores the most recent exculpatory revelations.”

Ryan Murphy, the co-creator, defended the show, saying it presented multiple points of view.

Mark Geragos, the brothers’ attorney, argued that the cultural awareness of sexual abuse of boys has shifted in the last 30 years, and that the Netflix series drew attention through its negative portrayal.

“It was such a caricature,” Geragos said. “The pendulum swing — the backlash — created a focus on it.”

Jose and Kitty Menendez were shot and killed in August 1989. Jose was a top executive at RCA Records in the 1980s.

The press conference drew a massive swarm of nearly 100 media members to the patio outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, plus dozens of onlookers who watched from the nearby sidewalk.

After the press conference, the family members went across the street to the Hall of Justice, where they were expected to meet with prosecutors to share their feelings about the case.

A hearing is set for Nov. 29 to evaluate the defense petition. Gascón, who is up for re-election next month and trailing badly in the polls, has not said whether he will support the defense request, but has indicated he is taking the new evidence seriously.

“None of this information has been confirmed,” he said at a press conference earlier this month. “We have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side.”

His opponent, Nathan Hochman, criticized Gascón’s handling of the case at a recent debate, arguing he was using it to draw attention away from his failures in office. The family said repeatedly that the issue transcends the political campaign.

“I know there is an election,” Baralt said. “For us, this is not political.”

The defense is seeking either to have the guilty verdicts vacated — which could, in theory, result in a new trial — or to have the brothers resentenced. Either outcome, if approved by a judge, would likely result in their release.

Geragos said he had hoped that the brothers would be home by Thanksgiving. Rosie O’Donnell was initially expected to appear at the press conference, but could not make it due to a conflict.