Menendez brothers attorney's focus on grisly photos part of strategic defense play to free killers: experts
Erik and Lyle Menendez are leaning on a multipronged strategy as the brothers seek resentencing for their parents' California murders, legal experts said.
The brothers' had their first resentencing hearing in Los Angeles on Thursday and will be back in court on May 9 as they try to get out of prison for killing their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989.
Los Angeles attorney Tre Lovell told Fox News Digital the defense is focusing on three major strategies: the brothers’ rehabilitation, testimony from character witnesses, and revisiting the sexual abuse they claim to have endured as children.
"They’ve changed since the crimes occurred," Lovell said, citing years of post-conviction efforts, including obtaining a college degree from UC Irvine, leading prison self-help classes, and starting support programs like Green Space and a hospice care initiative.
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"The resentencing criteria primarily focuses on post-conviction conduct to ensure that the defendants have changed and rehabilitated, and are not a threat to the public," he said.
Supporting their request, the defense is expected to present testimony from prison guards, supporters, and family members, including those who once opposed their release.
"The fact that family members now support their release is very powerful," Lovell added.
WATCH: Defense attorney on ‘grisly’ photos shown
New Jersey attorney David Gelman weighed in on the defense’s recent pushback against the prosecution’s use of graphic crime scene photos shown during a hearing last week.
"The defense is presenting a good argument," Gelman told Fox News Digital. "They’re saying the horrific pictures violated Marsy’s Law, which is supposed to protect victims’ rights."
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The defense claims Terry Baralt, the brothers' 85-year-old, was traumatized by viewing the graphic photos of the crime scene. She was hospitalized after the hearing.
"We are devastated to share that Terry Baralt has been hospitalized and is in critical condition following the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office’s cruel and careless conduct in court," a statement from the family read. "No physical pain has ever kept her from being there for her nephews. But the display put on by the DA’s office pushed her past the brink."
"I wouldn’t want my family to see those images," Judge Michael Jesic said in court on Thursday.
Gelman said that the defense’s audience isn’t public perception — but the judge. He said that painting District Attorney Nathan Hochman's office as "overzealous or vindictive" could help sway the decision in favor of the brothers' bid for freedom or a reduced sentence.
The Comprehensive Risk Assessment (CRA) report, which was a psychological exam ordered by Gov. Gavin Newsom's office remains the biggest hurdle for the defense to overcome, Gelman said.
Newsom's office told Fox News Digital that the risk assessment will be complete on June 13, 2025. They said that their office notified Jesic of the status of the CRA report and offered to share it with the court, if requested.
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"The judge has already said he won’t rule until he sees the CRA reports," Gelman said. "If this is an even argument right now, the report will tip the scales one way or another."
Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said that the CRA report, while important, will not be the deciding factor in the judge's deliberations.
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"The risk assessment report is something the parole board should consider. It’s not a factor in resentencing," he explained. "The resentencing factors are Erik and Lyle’s age at the time of the murders, being victims of sex abuse, conduct in prison, and rehabilitation."
By focusing on those factors and deflecting the risk argument to the parole board, Rahmani said, the defense is strategically guiding the judge toward a decision that could make parole a possibility without declaring them free men today.
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On Thursday, Jesic announced that they will reconvene on May 9. Erik Menendez was visibly annoyed and his brother Lyle was emotionless as their bid for freedom was pushed back.
The brothers' attorney, Mark Geragos, filed a recusal motion against Hochman following the decision. A recusal motion requests that the individual steps away from a case because of a potential conflict of interest or bias that prevents them from operating impartially.
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The Menendez brothers and their supporters have been pushing for a resentencing hearing, saying they were unfairly convicted to life in prison in 1996 for murdering their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Both Lyle and Erik Menendez have since come forward claiming their father sexually abused them, offering a different narrative of the killings than the story their attorneys told in the 1990s.
Their first trial ended in a mistrial, when jurors couldn't agree on their fate. After a second trial in the mid-1990s, in which some of their evidence about the alleged sexual abuse was excluded, jurors agreed with prosecutors that their motive was greed.
If the judge decides to resentence the Menendez brothers, it would then be up to the state parole board to consider their release.
Fox News Digital's Stepheny Price and Mike Ruiz contributed to this report.