Developments in the retrial of Lyle and Erik Menendez from March 18 - 22.
MARCH 18
The jury deliberated for a full day without reaching a verdict.
MARCH 19
The jury deliberated quietly for five and a half hours.
MARCH 20
The jury finds the brothers guilty of first-degree murder.
MARCH 22
The sentencing phase of the trial was delayed until Wednesday. It was set to start Monday but Judge Stanley Weisberg granted a delay after defense attorneys asked for more time to bring in out-of-town witnesses.
Erik, 25, and Lyle, 28, were convicted earlier this week of first-degree murder of Jose and Kitty Menendez, conspiracy and special circumstances which make them eligible for the death penalty.
The jury of eight men and four women will recommend either death or life in prison without possibility of parole. The judge will make the final decision.
Defense attorney Leslie Abramson has said the penalty phase could last two months. Defense attorneys have said they plan to call 40 witnesses. It is hard to say who will testify because the judge issued a gag order on all the attorneys and witnesses until the penalty phase is completed. But, it is almost certain that the defense will try to call all the witnesses that the judge precluded it from calling during the trial. The witnesses included friends, family members, teachers and coaches of the brothers, who are expected to testify about allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse suffered by the brothers at the hands of their parents.
