Menandez Brothers won the court on Friday as a judge denied the move to withdraw a displeasure of Los Angeles District Attorney.
The decision means that a hearing will proceed next and Friday, when the DA and the prosecutors will argue whether the brothers have been rehabilitated adequately for a low punishment.
Lyl and Eric menndez In 1989, he served 35 years for the 1989 killings of his parents, Jose and Kitty at his Beverly Hills Home. The brothers saw the hearing on Friday from State Jail in San Diego County via Webx.
District Attorney George Giscons went last October to reduce the sentence of brothers from life to 50 years without parole. This deficiency, if given, will immediately make them eligible for parole.
Nathan Hocheman, who defeated Gaskon in the November election, demanded the withdrawal of his preceding petition, arguing that the brothers did not take full responsibility for their crimes and remain a threat to the community.
In a long hearing on Friday, the lawyers from both sides argued if Hochman had the right to cancel his preceding request, and whether the brothers were really rehabilitated. Speaking to the DA office, Habib Balaian argued that the brothers had never accepted that their self-defense claims were coined, or took responsibility for recruiting their friends to lie again and again about the murders and to lie on their behalf in court.
“They are the same people they were back,” Balian said. “Thirty years ago, he was telling the same lies that they are today.”
Judge Michael Jessic said that the DA office did not enough to show that the pre -administration petition should be withdrawn. The judge said that he was trying to avoid a situation in which petitions could be submitted and could be withdrawn only on the basis of change in administration.
“No new information,” the judge said. “None of this is really new. They are stuck with their story. It goes to him whether they have been rehabilitated.”
A California appeal for the example of the court requires that a DA provides a “valid cause” to withdraw a displeasure petition. The judge found that the court’s example did not provide enough clarity to determine what is qualified as “legitimate”.
Attorney of Menandez Brothers, Mark Geragos exploded the DA office to offer a long presentation on the original crime, including a display of a photo of Jose Menandez’s dead body. Geragos called Balian’s performance “Dog and Pony Show” and compared it to Sen Corey Booker’s recent Philibuster.
Outside the court, Geragos appreciated the judge’s decision, called it a victory of “justice on politics”.
Hochman sitting in a lot of row for hearing, underlining his administration the importance of the case. Hochman handed over three depots to review the tapes of both menndege tests, and announced his decision to withdraw the petition at a long press conference.
In court, Balian played video clips from the first trial, as well as audio recording of Lyl and Eric Menandez therapy sessions and interviews with a reporter. He also played a clip from “The Menandage Brothers”, which began last year, in which Lyal argued that he had acted in proper self -defense. Balian argued that the clip shows that the brothers deliberately manipulated the process and gave a self -defense argument only after trying many other arguments.
Jessic shocked Lile menndez‘Phone interview with a reporter, in which he talked about chasing the “best angle” in the test. “He is saying to a reporter on the phone from jail,” Jessic said, “Given that it reduced the prosecution claim that the brother was” sophisticated “killers.
Geragos said he was influenced by the presentation of Balian, called it “showing a show by DA selected as a throw in the 90s”.
“It is political,” he said, arguing that Hochman was “panding” for “Neandarthal” da in his office, which “was stunned by Gakson.”
“We have developed in a way,” he said, the legislature expanded the use of displeasure to reduce the overpopulation of the prison in view of the three strikes.
Lawyers expect many of the same arguments reuse at the next week hearing. Jessic did not indicate how he would rule it, but said that the DA’s arguments would be “fair sports” at the hearing.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has also said that he is considering whether the brothers have to give up and not. They are for a hearing before the State Parole Board in June whether they would be suitable for a commutation or forgiveness.
