Erik and Lyle Menendez, who are awaiting an August parole hearing for the 1989 murders of their parents, have secured a significant court ruling that advances their effort to introduce new evidence supporting their self-defense claims.
A July 8 order from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan found that the brothers have established a prima facie case for habeas corpus relief. The ruling compels the district attorney’s office to show cause within 30 days, requiring prosecutors to formally argue why the brothers’ legal challenge should not be granted.
The petition centers on two key pieces of evidence. The first is a letter Erik Menendez allegedly wrote to his cousin, Andy Cano, eight months before the killings, which reportedly detailed sexual abuse by their father, Jose Menendez. The second is an affidavit from Roy Rossello, a former member of the band Menudo, who came forward decades later to claim that Jose Menendez, a record executive, had raped him as a teenager in the 1980s.
In a March 2023 filing, the brothers argued that had this evidence been presented at their second trial, it would have supported their self-defense argument and likely resulted in their acquittal. In a previous response, prosecutors had dismissed the letter as “untimely” and the affidavit as “inadmissible, immaterial, and lacks credibility.”
The Menendez brothers have been imprisoned for 35 years for the shotgun killings of their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home. While they admitted to the killings, they have consistently maintained they acted out of fear after a lifetime of abuse.
This legal development runs parallel to a separate, successful effort for resentencing. Originally serving life sentences without the possibility of parole, the brothers were resentenced in May to 50 years to life. This change made them eligible for their upcoming parole hearing, which has been scheduled for August 21 and 22.
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