THE Menendez brothers’ formidable former defense attorney, Leslie Abramson, has been seen for the first time amid the pair’s new fight for freedom.
Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were sentenced to life without parole after killing their parents, have fresh hope for the first time in almost 35 years.
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The brothers alleged they were sexually abused by their father, Jose, and their mother, Kitty, turned a blind eye before they killed them with shotguns at their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Prosecutors in California are now reviewing their first-degree murder convictions after a push from a new generation of true crime fans who feel they should have been convicted of manslaughter.
The U.S. Sun has obtained exclusive video and photographs of Leslie, who slammed the recent Netflix miniseries, Monsters, in which she was portrayed by actress Ari Graynor.
Leslie, now 81, was seen shopping and pumping gas near her home in Los Angeles and hit out at the drama.
Asked about the Monsters series, she said, “That piece of s**t that I heard about? I don’t watch any of those.
“I didn’t watch the last series, and I don’t watch any of the shows about it.”
When asked about the new push to free the brothers, she added, “I make no comments about my clients. None whatsoever. Attorney client privilege never dies.”
However, she did provide a comment on the new Netflix documentary in which Erik and Lyle speak from prison for the first time in years about the murders.
BRASH STYLE
In a statement to producers, Leslie said, “Thirty years is a long time. I’d like to leave the past in the past. No amount of media, nor teenage petitions will alter the fate of these clients. Only the court can do that and they have ruled.”
She declined to be interviewed for the one-hour, 58-minute documentary, simply titled ‘The Menendez Brothers.’
The first trial became an international spectacle, with Erik and Lyle breaking down in tears as they recalled the horrific abuse they allegedly dealt with at the hands of their powerful, wealthy father.
But after a mistrial was declared, their attorney Leslie was left incensed when the option of manslaughter was not available to jurors in the second trial and vital evidence and witnesses were not included.
Erik was unable to testify, and Lyle was left alone to take the stand and claim they feared for their lives and thought their parents were planning to kill them.
But there were only two options for the jury: first-degree murder or no crime committed, and they lost the case.
Footage of Leslie from the trial and speaking to the media outside of court is used in the new documentary, while she was praised in the new documentary.
One interviewee called her a “magnificent attorney” who gave all she had to try and keep the brothers out of jail.
A TV newsreader described her in the archive footage as an “tiny, brash, brainy woman” with an “in-your-face style.”
Another told viewers, “This 4 foot 11 little Orphan Annie lookalike is 104 pounds of pure dynamite!
“Her trademark audacity has helped her save a dozen people from death row.
“She’s one of the foremost criminal defense lawyers in the nation.”
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Timeline of the Menendez brothers case
Erik and Lyle Menendez are serving life sentences in prison after being found guilty of shooting their parents to death over 30 years ago.
August 20, 1989 – José and Kitty Menendez are shot to death
March 8, 1990 – Lyle is arrested for the murders
March 11, 1990 – Erik turns himself in
July 20, 1993 – Highly publicized trial begins and ends weeks later in a mistrial
October 11, 1995 – Second trial begins
March 20, 1996 – Menendez brothers are convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder
July 2, 1996 – Menendez brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and sent to separate prisons
February 2018 – Lyle is transferred to the San Diego prison where Erik is held
April 4, 2018 – Erik and Lyle are reunited
May 2023 – Attorney representing the Menendez brothers files a habeas petition
September 19, 2024 – Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story comes out on Netflix
October 3, 2024: Los Angeles authorities reviewing new evidence in connection with the brothers’ convictions
October 7, 2024 – The Menendez Brothers documentary film comes out on Netflix
The brothers explained in the doc that they felt they were doomed from the start, as their second trial began just days after OJ Simpson was acquitted of murder, which resulted in a loss of confidence in the judicial system.
After the brothers were sentenced, Leslie wrote a book, The Defense Is Ready: Life in the Trenches of Criminal Law.
Leslie later stepped away from the limelight, and she has kept a low profile ever in recent years as the case made headlines once again.
She had a daughter from her first marriage and adopted a son with her second husband, Los Angeles Times reporter Tim Rutten.
He filed for divorce in June of 2007 but the pair remained close friends until he died in September 2022 after suffering a fall at his home in California.
According to the State Bar of California, Leslie’s legal license is no longer active. She is believed to be retired and living in a modest home near Pasadena.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon announced at a press conference this month that all evidence will be considered before deciding if the brothers should receive a new trial.
In the past two years, new evidence has emerged in the case.
A letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin before the murders allegedly details his father’s sexual abuse, while it has been claimed Jose Menendez drugged and raped a teenage boy band member in the 1980s.
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Erik Menendez’s letter to his cousin
A letter Erik Menendez reportedly wrote to his cousin about his dad’s alleged abuse has sparked a review of the case that could set him and his brother free from jail. The letter reads in full:
“I’ve been trying to avoid dad. It’s still happening, Andy, but it’s worse for me now. I can’t explain it. He so overweight that I can’t stand to see him.
I never know when it’s going to happen and it’s driving me crazy. Every night I stay up thinking he might come in.
I need to put it out of my mind. I know what you said before but I’m afraid. You just don’t know dad like I do. He’s crazy!
He’s warned me a hundred times about telling anyone, especially Lyle.”
The brothers may also get a new sentence, if not a trial, but Gascon told reporters the decision would be his, and a hearing has been scheduled for November 29.
He said, “We have been given evidence. We have been given a photocopy of a letter that allegedly was sent by one of the brothers to another family member talking about him being the victim of molestation.
“We’ve also got evidence that was provided by the defense, by his lawyers, that one of the members of the Menudo band alleged that he was molested by the father.”
Gascon insisted, “None of this information has been confirmed.
“We are not at this point ready to say that we either believe or do not believe that information, but we’re here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side, whether they deserve to be resentenced — even though they were clearly the murderers — because they have been in prison for years and they have paid back their dues to society.
“If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps a jury would have come to a different conclusion.”
Kim Kardashian has written an essay that calls for the brothers to be freed, as reported by NBC News.
She claimed the brothers are not monsters but intelligent and honest men.
Kardashian, who met the brothers last month at a prison near San Diego, doesn’t believe that the sentencing is the right punishment.
“Had this crime been committed and trialed today, I believe the outcome would have been dramatically different,” she wrote.
“We owe it to those little boys who lost their childhoods, who never had a chance to be heard, helped or saved.”
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