Warning: This post contains spoilers for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story!
This article contains discussions of murder and sexual abuse surrounding the real life and crimes of Erik and Lyle Menendez.
With the duo’s story getting fresh life on the Netflix show, attorney Mark Geragos weighs in on the Menendez brothers’ chances of a prison release after Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. The second installment in Ryan Murphy’s Monster Anthology follows the titular brothers from murdering their parents in 1989 through their court trial, in which they cite sexual and emotional abuse from their parents as the reason behind the murders. Monsters Season 2 ends with the duo receiving life sentences without the possibility of parole in 1996, where they are still 28 years later.
On the heels of the show’s premiere, People spoke with the brothers’ post-conviction attorney Mark Geragos to discuss how Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will affect their chances of getting a prison release. This also comes after a Habeus Corpus petition was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in May 2023 following the discovery of new evidence of sexual abuse allegations by former Menudo member Roy Rossello against Jose, who said he raped him in the 80s, and a letter Eric wrote to his cousin Andy Cano, in which he described his father’s sexual abuse, months before the murders.
Geragos says part of the reason the letter wasn’t discovered sooner is that “Nobody was watching [the cousin’s personal] Effects until 2015“And as such it was not found until”10 years after our last appeal“And that his team’s new defensive approach is on the ground that”The second trial did not result in constitutional protection for various reasons“:
We say that the second trial did not comply with constitutional protection for various reasons. And a Hebeas [Corpus petition] has new evidence. It requires new evidence because the case has basically been moribund for close to 17 years. And the new evidence was the Menudo accuser and the letter Andy Kana wrote or received from Eric eight months before the murder.
Looking at what this means for the brothers’ future, Geragos says there are now “Three things“The judge may choose to deal with the petition, Although says he finally issued an order for the DA to informally respond“Which they have taken very seriously in the last 15 months“. He also says that the defense team conducted a conditional examination of Kitty’s older sister, and provided statements from 24 family members who “.All requested that they be resentenced, presented a number of other documents and evidence for them to take a look at and consider while making a decision.“:
The judge can basically do three things. The judge can deny it, the judge can order the DA to respond, or the judge can do what he did, which is issue an order for the DA to informally respond, which they’ve taken very seriously over the last 15 months because we ‘ve presented evidence to them.
When asked about the brothers’ feelings on the new petition, Geragos says the Menendezes are “Cautiously optimistic“While also feeling that the process would have seen a very different outcome if it happened today:
I tried the case today, 99 times out of 100, it’s a voluntary manslaughter. Twenty years, 30 years, the culture moves, and I think more enlightened or develops, and people begin to realize that maybe there was a food frenzy then, and on a sober reflection, that they did not receive a fair trial. .
Despite his optimism, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office says they are “Investigating the claims presented in the petition“, and that the informal response took place on September 26. Both former Los Angeles Senior Deputy District Attorney Dmitry Gorin and defense attorney Nema Rahmani were also asked about their thoughts on the brothers’ chances of release, and Neither feels the new evidence will benefit their appealwith the latter calling it a “Hail Mary-type argument“:
Dmitry Garin: I don’t know how much the new evidence moves the needle. It is still a very long time because of the history of the case, because of the previous trial rulings and because it does not materially change the evidence in the case. It’s more of the same. It is terrible evidence. It is tragic that they are abused, but it is more of the same.
Nema Rahmani: It is a Hail Mary type argument. This is not enough, in my opinion. A corroborating note or the fact that a victim abused someone else, this is not the type of evidence that typically results in a habeas petition.
What this means for the release chances of the Menendez brothers
It seems that the show’s release won’t help much
Although the petition may have come a little over a year before the show’s release, it seems clear that Geragos and his clients hope that Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Storys premiere will create new awareness and support for their story. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a true-crime project led to developments in widely publicized cases, One of the more notable is HBO’s The Jinx: The Life and Death of Robert DurstIn which the titular real estate heir, unbeknownst to him, confessed to the murders in which he was first accused and later arrested and convicted. .
However, despite the hopes of Geragos and the Menendez brothers, the fact that both the LAC DA office has yet to make an informal response, It can point to Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story Not enough to get the brothers out of prison. While Gorin and Rahmani do at least note that there is a “Long shot“Rather than an absolute uncertainty, the evidence presented seems to largely fall in line with the brothers’ previous defense stance, making it unlikely that a new trial would be granted.
Our take on the Menendez brothers’ chances of being released
Murphy’s Netflix show did little to give them a meaningful defense
A 20-plus-year-old court case being revisited is certainly not unheard of, And the passage of time doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone’s chances of overturning a previous conviction are absolutely zero.. Revisiting the true crime genre, both investigative journalism podcasts In the dark And the 2020 documentary Who killed Malcolm X? Successfully found new evidence in the cases of Curtis Flowers and the murder of the iconic Civil Rights activist that led to the release of the latter and two men accused of being involved in the assassination of Malcolm X.
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even after I believe that Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story will not be enough To convince either a court or the DA office to carry out a new trial, possibly reversing the life sentences of the brothers. Erik Menendez recently came out with a scathingly critical letter about the show “Inaccurate” The image of him and his brother, with critics also agreeing that the show is a confused mess of inconsistent tones and depictions of its titular figures. , Monsters Maybe did more harm than good.
Source: People