Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic on Monday postponed the recusal hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez, originally scheduled for December 11, until January 30, 2025.

The move, reported by Los Angeles-based Fox 11, the Associated Press and other media, comes after a trial Monday in which attorneys for the brothers asked the judge to reconsider their life sentences without parole for the 1989 murder of their parents.

During Monday’s proceedings, defense attorney Mark Geragos asked the judge to convict the brothers on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, Fox 11 reported. The older sisters of the brothers’ deceased parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez, also testified.

Geragos and fellow attorney Clifford Gardner filed a habeas petition asking the court to reconsider the conviction and sentences in the wake of new evidence that has received widespread attention, both as the case returned to the cultural zeitgeist via TV shows focused on on the brothers’ story, and a heated race for Los Angeles district attorney, with District Attorney George Gascón losing his election after recommending that the brothers be resentenced. New prosecutor Nathan Hochman will take office on December 3.

Judge Jesic said Monday he needed time to review the documents and give new prosecutor Hochman time to consider the case.

Monday’s hearing was the latest update in a case that has repeatedly captivated the nation, and as such it made for quite a scene outside the courthouse with media crews waiting and members of the public camping out long before the sun rose in the hope of the 16 lots for seats within the court.

In 1989, RCA Records CEO Jose Menendez and his wife Kitty were shot to death in their Beverly Hills home. In March 1990, their sons, Lyle and Erik, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The brothers faced separate jury trials, which received widespread attention at the time, and their lawyers argued that they had suffered years of physical abuse, much of it at the hands of Jose. Both juries remained deadlocked, paving the way for a second joint trial that began in 1995. Erik and Lyle were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Supporters have long pointed to a lack of testimony about their abuse during the second trial as a possible reason for the guilty verdicts.

Over the decades, the case has often found its way back into the headlines, but nothing compared to what has happened in recent years after a groundswell of support on TikTok surfaced as new evidence emerged and another victim came forward to seemingly contradict the claims of the brothers confirmed that they had done so. sexually abused by their father. A Peacock documentary, Menendez + Menudo: Boys betrayedExecutive produced by trial journalist Robert Rand, it featured a member of the popular boy band Menudo claiming that he too had been a victim of Jose. Separately, Rand discovered a letter Erik had sent to a cousin, Andy Cano, in 1988 (long before the murders) containing claims of sexual abuse by his father.

The brothers’ story also received global attention from Netflix with a pair of projects, Ryan Murphy’s Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendezand a follow-up documentary with exclusive interviews with the two, The Menendez brothers.

Amid his re-election, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón filed a motion in October recommending that a judge avenge the brothers. At a press conference announcing the move, Gascón cited “a huge amount of public attention” on the case, as the streamer’s narrative series remained one of the platform’s most-watched titles. Gascón lost the election to Nathan Hochman, who released a statement saying he would need time to review the files before making a decision.

“Once I take office on December 3, I look forward to doing the hard work of thoroughly reviewing the facts and law of the Menendez case, including reviewing the confidential prison records, the transcripts of the two trials and the voluminous evidence, as well as speaking with prosecutors, attorneys and victims’ family members,” he said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom also weighed in. “The Governor respects the role of the District Attorney in ensuring justice and recognizes that voters have entrusted District Attorney-elect Hochman to carry out this responsibility,” said a statement from his office. “The Governor will defer the elected district attorney’s review and analysis of the Menendez case before making any clemency decisions.”

Hilary Lewis contributed to this report.