Menendez brothers' uncle asks court to keep them behind bars

Rob Hayes Image
Friday, October 25, 2024
Menendez brothers' uncle asks court to keep them behind bars
Menendez brothers' uncle asks court to keep them behind barsNot everyone in Lyle and Erik Menendez's family is on the same page over the DA's decision that could lead to the jailed brothers' freedom.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's decision to seek resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez brought relief for some members of the brothers' extended family.

The Menendez brothers were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1989 killings of their parents - Jose and Kitty Menendez - in the family's Beverly Hills home.

Not everyone in the Menendez family is happy with the DA's call.

An attorney for Milton Andersen, the 90-year-old brother of Kitty Menendez, filed an amicus brief to the court, looking to present the other side to Gascón's resentencing request. Andersen seeks to keep the brothers' original punishment.

"They shot their mother, Kitty, reloading to ensure her death," Andersen's attorney Kathy Cady said in a statement Thursday. "The evidence remains overwhelmingly clear: the jury's verdict was just, and the punishment fits the heinous crime."

Mark Geragos, an attorney for the brothers, declined to comment on the statement by Andersen's attorneys.

Cady told Eyewitness News that Gascón's decision is a "clear ploy to try to get additional votes" ahead of the election.

Cady says Gascón's office has consistently shut Andersen out of the review process - against California law.

"He's disappointed," she said. "He believes that justice was served when Lyle and Erik were convicted of murder and special circumstance, and that their sentence was appropriate."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.