(The Center Square) – Tearful testimony was heard Tuesday during the first day of a resentencing hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez, who killed their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989.
Members of the Menendez brothers’ family and a retired judge testified on the brothers’ behalf during the hearing, which is expected to continue for a second and final day on Wednesday in Van Nuys, a city outside Los Angeles.
Emotions ran high as a tearful Annmaria Baralt told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic that she and other family members have forgiven the brothers and feel they’ve served enough time in prison. The brothers have been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole at a San Diego prison since their 1996 convictions.
According to media reports, Jesic on Tuesday said the bar to prevent resentencing would be set high.
During a break in the hearing, Mark Geregos, the lawyer for Erik and Lyle Menendez, said he plans to argue that their sentence be reduced to manslaughter and that the brothers be released immediately, according to NBC Los Angeles.
Erik and Lyle Menendez have contended the murders were in self-defense. But District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who has tried unsuccessfully to block the resentencing efforts started by a petition by previous D.A. George Gascón, has called the self-defense claims false and accused the brothers of failing to take full responsibility for the murders.
