LOS ANGELES (Court TV) — A California judge has denied a long-shot appeal from Lyle and Erik Menendez seeking a new trial, blocking yet another path for freedom for the incarcerated brothers.
FILE – This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Department of Corrections via AP, File)
Los Angeles Judge William Ryan denied the petition on Wednesday, saying in a 16-page decision that none of the new evidence presented in the case had been “particularly strong.”
The brothers were found guilty of the 1989 murders of their parents, who were shot to death in their home. After two trials, the pair were spared the death penalty but were sentenced to life in prison. The first trials included testimony from Lyle and Erik alleging they were sexually abused by their father, but the second trial did not allow the jury to hear that evidence.
Court TV’s Trial Archives: CA v. Menendez (1993)
In May 2023, the brothers filed a habeas petition in which they claimed that two pieces of evidence would have changed the outcome of the second trial. The evidence included a letter Erik sent to his cousin before the murders and new allegations of sexual abuse against the boys’ father, Jose Menendez, from a former member of the boy band Menudo.
“The purported new evidence that slightly corroborates that petitioners were sexually abused, does not negate the finding of premeditation and deliberation and the lying-in-wait special circumstance,” Judge Ryan wrote. “The evidence alleged here is not so compelling that it would have produced a reasonable doubt in the mind of at least one juror or supportive of an imperfect self-defense instruction.”
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On a social media account belonging to Lyle, a post called the judge’s decision disappointing and said, “The fight continues,” KNBC reported.
While the brothers had initially been sentenced to life without parole, a judge earlier this year reduced their sentences and made them immediately eligible for parole. A parole board denied petitions from both brothers in August, citing security risks.
