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Menendez family increases pressure on prosecutor to free brothers
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Menendez family increases pressure on prosecutor to free brothers

The family of Lyle and Erik Menendez held a news conference Wednesday to urge District Attorney George Gascón to help free the brothers, who spent 34 years in prison for killing 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 unwilling to listen.”

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

Gascón considers the new evidence, including a letter from Erik Menendez to another cousin, sent before the murders, recounting 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 could have changed the outcome of the trial and led to a trial. conviction for manslaughter instead of a conviction for first-degree murder.

The case has attracted renewed interest thanks to the Netflix docuseries “Monsters,” which became the most-watched show on the platform in the first two weeks of its 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 falsehoods and outright falsehoods, but also 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 cultural awareness about sexual abuse of boys has changed over the past three decades and that the Netflix series attracted attention for its negative portrayal.

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

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

The news conference drew a huge swarm of nearly a hundred media members to the patio outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, plus dozens of onlookers watching from the nearby sidewalk.

After the press conference, the relatives headed across the street to the Palace of Justice, where they were expected to meet with prosecutors to share their feelings about the case.

A hearing is scheduled for November 29 to review the defense’s request. Gascón, who faces re-election next month and is polling poorly, has not said whether he will support the defense’s request but has indicated he is taking the new evidence seriously.

“None of this information has been confirmed,” he said at a news conference earlier this month. “We have a moral and ethical obligation to assess what is presented to us and make a decision based on a grudge.”

His opponent, Nathan Hochman, criticized Gascón’s handling of the case during a recent debate, arguing that he used it to distract from his failures in office. The family repeatedly said the issue transcends the political campaign.

“I know there are elections,” Baralt said. “For us, this is not political.”

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

Geragos said he had hoped the brothers would be home by Thanksgiving. Rosie O’Donnell was initially scheduled to appear at the press conference, but was unable to attend due to a conflict.