Latest news with #ErikMenendezStory
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ripped from the headlines: How the showrunners of ‘Monsters,' ‘Apple Cider Vinegar' and ‘Good American Family' mined truth for drama
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction — which makes true crime incredibly fertile ground for generating compelling ideas for TV series. But it also brings its own set of complications, where showrunners have to toe a careful line when dealing with real-life characters. Here, the executive producers behind three of the season's news-inspired series — Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story's Ian Brennan, Good American Family's Katie Robbins, and Apple Cider Vinegar's Samantha Strauss — reveal how they navigated those landmines to critical and commercial success. More from GoldDerby 'The Traitors' Season 4 casts a different Rob from 'Survivor,' a K-pop star, and Taylor Swift's potential future mother-in-law Dakota Fanning said 'yes' to 'The Perfect Couple' the moment she heard Nicole Kidman was involved, without knowing anything else about the show Roy Wood Jr. on how 'Lonely Flowers' became his most personal special to date Gold Derby: What made you want to take on these complex projects? Ian Brennan: I wasn't actually convinced at first. We were trying to follow Dahmer, and those are big shoes to fill. And my level of detail about the Menendez brothers was really minimal. I remember them being caricatured on Saturday Night Live for crying on the witness stand. It was not articulated at the time what they were crying about. That's how low our cultural resolution was at the time, to keep two thoughts in our head, that boys could be victims of sexual violence and also murderers — that was just too hard for that era of pop culture. But just getting into the case, I was like, "Oh no, this contains multitudes, this is really deep." It was in fact, a lot to take in. It's not this was like a new case or anything. It's become now a new case, which is f--king wild. I expect that the boys will get paroled based on this 'new' evidence that was not new at all. We just pointed those out again, and it shows the power of television for sure. Samantha Strauss: Our show is about a woman who faked brain cancer and built a wellness empire on her lie. There was a 60 Minutes exposé, which was a trainwreck of an interview, and it really captured the imagination here in Australia. She wore a very interesting pink turtleneck and just was unable to tell the truth. The rise and the fall of Belle Gibson might just feel like a scammer story we've seen before, but the journalists who actually broke the story on Belle wrote this beautiful book about her, and they had incredible sources, they also painted the picture of wellness culture. They followed other cancer scammers across history and other wellness influencers, and what I just loved was that it was a tapestry and an opportunity to have a conversation about wellness culture, about social media, about our need for approval. Katie Robbins: Hulu came to me back in 2020 with the idea of turning this story about Natalia Grace and the Barnetts into a narrative limited. Back then, the story was out in the world, but not as pervasive as it is now. And so I had to do my own deep dive into it. I had never done true crime, nor had I been like looking to do true crime, necessarily, but I was so struck by the experience of reading about these stories in that I would read one article and just be like, "Oh my gosh, this is the truth." And then I'd go and watch an interview with one of the other parties involved, and I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, no, I was wrong." That feeling of whiplash and not knowing which way was up, I thought was really interesting. The more I learned about the story, the more important and insidious that became because at the end of the story, there is some empirical, biological evidence. And that evidence didn't end up mattering in the court of law or the court of public opinion. I thought was really fascinating and really troubling, and something that feels every day more troubling because we're seeing it writ large across this country. And so I came up with the idea of using perspective as the way of telling the story — starting the story in the perspective of the Barnetts in this heightened, slightly campy, kind of tone, and then at a certain point that being upended and switching perspectives, and us having to question everything that we've been we've seen so far, and also question why we believed what we saw so far. Do you feel like you were able to get at some "truth"? Brennan: For our show, we knew from the beginning that truth was going to be tricky, because four people know the truth of the story. Two are in prison. Two are dead. There's not some piece of evidence that hasn't been looked at, it's been so combed over, and everybody's sticking to their story. So we knew we had to tell it like, like Rashomon, that we had to keep telling the story over and over again from different perspectives. You have to allow yourself to be making a painting, not a photograph, and you try to get as close as you can. Robbins: The 'truth' is it's complicated and hard to hold onto in our story, and yet there was some empirical fact at the end of it. And so the way that we went about doing it was to really draw from allegations that the two sides have made about each other, and that we use the perspective-driven storytelling as a way of saying, "OK, we're telling this person's version of events, and now we're telling this person's version of events, and then finally we end with some sense of empirical fact." We had a treasure trove of research. I often thought about we were doing as the way a sculptor works with a big piece of granite. You've got the form, and now we have to chisel away at that and figure out what is the story that we're telling with this boulder of research that we have. As long as your North Star is an emotional truth for the people that you're telling stories about, then I think it gives you a little bit of license to be able to play and to tell a story that feels dramatically engaging and emotionally true. Strauss: I really grapple with this telling a true story. The effect can be a pile on. Our Belle is a real person. She's out there, and she's got a family. I had to keep going back to the idea of entertainment first and foremost. It's the conversation around those decisions of trying not to sensationalize the story, not glorify her behavior. Because as a writer, I love an antihero. You just want to get in there and get into the marrow, and you put all your own sh-t into her sh-t and your needs and deep wounds into her deep wounds. It was always important to get right to the edge of empathy for her, because she's the baddie, but it's the culture that's enabled her, the social media culture in particular, and how that cannibalizes our intense need for approval and for love. There were grown-ups in the room that were really enabling her behavior. Every time we in the writers room felt too much sympathy for her, we would then walk it back and have to remember the people who were so negatively affected by her, and that was why it was important to to juxtapose her with someone who really did have cancer and who desperately wanted to save herself, and who was lying to herself about how her alternative treatment was making her well. Did you reach out to the real people involved, or did the legal teams say to you, actually, you're better off not talking to them at all. Strauss: That was our legal advice, but also the creative advice. Our character of Belle, played by Kaitlyn Dever, she became our version, not the real version. Some things are condensed and all of those things, but hopefully, the profound truth is at the center Brennan: We didn't [contact the Menendez brothers], but that was by design. I don't even think at the beginning they would have wanted to speak to us, but we didn't reach out again. There's nothing more to learn. Their story has remained the same. And I think you don't want to be seen as being in the tank for anybody. We didn't get any worried phone calls from legal. I think the Menendez brothers have reached a threshold of fame that's almost public domain by virtue of how everybody knows it. I think that's just where you try to do as much research internally as you can and trust a moral North Star. Robbins: It was very important to try to do justice to Natalia's story and to get that story out there, and to use the structure of it to shine a light on these themes around bias and disability and the fact that the truth doesn't matter sometimes, if the person who's telling it is telling it in a way that is captivating and convincing, we stop asking questions and then we cease to move through the world with empathy and curiosity. So that was really important. We really got to tell the story that we wanted to tell, and the story that felt like it was doing justice in the way that we'd hoped. Have you heard from the real people involved? Strauss: I haven't. I really expected Belle to storm the launch, but for someone who really did crave the spotlight, she has been surprisingly AWOL, which is great. I mean, it might have been good for the publicity. [Laughs.] Brennan: No. The person who's out there still is Leslie Abramson, their lawyer, who I thought we'd hear from, just by virtue of being a lawyer on TV. I think we portrayed her in a way that she would love. But I was wondering if she was going to come knocking but she never did at all. Robbins: Nothing from the Barnetts. What do you want people to take away from your projects? Strauss: I read every negative thing that anyone ever writes, but in between, is the positives, which is the people who feel hurt, who are chronically ill or have cancer, who are bullied by their friends online. They're told to literally drink apple cider vinegar and you'll cure yourself. What is heartbreaking is the, hundreds, thousands [of dollars] that you might spend to go to a quack center and put your health in the hands of someone who's not necessarily a scientist, who hasn't been to medical school. It was important for us to show that doctors aren't always right. You do have to advocate for yourself. We get so polarized. and social media loves pushing us into down our rabbit holes, and creating an us and them. I love the sentiment of listening to each other and balance. Robbins: At the end of the day, the great horror of it is that there was empirical fact about Natalia's age, and that didn't matter, and in the state of Indiana, that hasn't made a difference in her birth certificate. That's terrifying to me, that there can be scientific evidence and that doesn't mean anything. That becomes more and more of something that I think we need to be aware of, and we need to have media literacy and ask questions. This wouldn't have happened had Natalia been of average stature, if she hadn't been born into the body that she was born into. If our show can help people ask more questions and move through the world with a little bit more empathy and curiosity, that's the great takeaway. Brennan: That abuse, sexual or otherwise, is almost like you actually abuse multiple generations of people. It almost destroys someone's DNA and it becomes this heritable thing that then they pass on generation after generation. I think there is rarely sexual abuse that happens in a vacuum. I'm sure it does happen, but it's almost always abused, sexually abused, abusive people were themselves sexually abused. It's learned behavior — these cycles of abuse, how toxic and how permanent they become, and become almost a sort of family member that everyone's forced to live with. Why do you think audiences are looking for these kinds of stories now more than ever? Brennan: Dahmer was a real eye opener for everybody, including Netflix. That's a challenging show. That's a hard watch, but I think we live in dark times, and people need a little bit of affirmation that they're not alone in seeing horrors around them. Robbins: It certainly seems that there is an appetite for this kind of storytelling, and I am always wondering what that's about. Why are we so interested in it? There's a little bit of a desire to dissect what is happening in the world, and holding a mirror up to ourselves. And these are stories that are larger than life in a lot of ways, and don't feel necessarily reflective of each of our individual experiences. And yet, these are real people, and so there is something almost Shakespearean about the scale at which these stories are being told, and yet, what they're born out of are things that are very true to each of us, Nobody sets out every day to say, I want to be a villain, I want to go off and do bad things and torment people. They are trying to lead their lives in the way that feels like true to them. And yet these things happen. And so I'm trying to understand why these things are happening within our society, and what that says about our society, What I like about doing this kind of work, having now done it once, is that it does feel like a chance to write an op-ed a little bit. I think an important thing to be able to do as an artist is to look at the world around you and try to make sense of it. That's what we're doing. We're meaning makers. Strauss: They are easy to sell, or they have been lately, because there's already a built in audience and a conversation. Our show sort of sits in the scammer microcosm. I have thought a lot about that, why we like scammers. Part of it is the audacity. How can someone do that? How can they break the system? Oh, maybe I can break the system. But then I think we do like to see the fall from grace and justice served sat a deeper level. I wonder if it's because we often feel like we're being scammed by people in our lives, or we're being gaslit by people in our lives. Brennan: It's also that it was a true story, you couldn't write it. It's ruined writers' rooms for me, because if it was a scripted story, you'd get the note: "That's too on the nose." Because humans are super weird. The third season of Monsters is about a grave-digging necrophiliac — really, really dark stuff. And it doesn't faze me at all. It's just fascinating. That is what human beings are capable of. Best of GoldDerby Inside 'The Daily Show': The team behind the satirical news series on politics, puppies, punchlines — and staying sane Dakota Fanning said 'yes' to 'The Perfect Couple' the moment she heard Nicole Kidman was involved, without knowing anything else about the show 'Slow Horses' star Rosalind Eleazar gets real about her MI5 outcast Louisa Guy: 'She's really not OK' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cooper Koch reveals two failed auditions to play Menendez brother—here's who beat him
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images Cooper Koch Cooper Koch is nothing if not tenacious! The 28-year-old actor broke out in 2024 for starring in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story as Erik Menendez. His impassioned performance led to a Golden Globe nomination, a spot in Variety's Actors on Actors interviews, and millions of fans. In his Actors on Actors interview — a web series hosted by Variety — Koch was paired up with The White Lotus star Sam Nivola. The two discussed playing characters defined by their relationships to their brothers, working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and how they got their breakout roles. Fans already knew that Koch was passionate about the Menendez brothers, speaking out about their real-life case and even visiting them in prison. Now, we know how deep that passion goes. Cooper Koch and Sam Nivola haven't met before, but form an instant bond in the Actors on Actors studio. They discuss what it ... - YouTube During his appearance on Variety's "Actors on Actors," Koch revealed that he had actually — literally — auditioned for the 2017 limited season dubbed Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders that centered on the Menendez brothers (Koch's second audition ever). And Koch had also auditioned for the 2017 Lifetime movie Menendez: Blood Brothers, once again not booking the role. "I just felt like this insane cosmic, universe-y thing that was like, 'I have to play this part,'" Koch told Nivola in their one-on-one interview. "It was just that immense empathy that you feel for a person, and I had to do it." Koch eventually earned his chance to play one of the Menendez brothers on Ryan Murphy's Monsters series on Netflix. The series was so successful that it propelled Koch to become a household name around the world, and a legitimate Emmy contender, too. However, Koch's revelation did some spark a curiosity within us: Who the heck were the other actors who beat him in those auditions for the Lifetime movie and the limited season of Law & Order? Nico Tortorella starred as Lyle Menendez in Menendez: Blood Brothers when he was 29 years old. The Shield star Benito Martinez played the Menendez patriarch José, and musician Courtney Love played the mother, Kitty Menendez. Tortorella was already a rising star at the time, having played Trevor Sheldon in Scream 4, and starred in the TV shows The Beautiful Life, Make It or Break It, The Following, and Younger. After those shows, Tortorella has often appeared as himself, including on RuPaul's Drag Race and Legendary as a guest judge, and RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race as a competitor. Over the years, Tortorella came out as bisexual, genderfluid, and polyamorous. The actor also got married to Bethany C. Meyers in 2018, and they have two kids together. Before playing Erik Menendez in Menendez: Blood Brothers, Myko Olivier had many small roles in television and short films, including the MTV series Awkward, Zendaya's Disney series K.C. Undercover, Nickelodeon's Sam & Cat with Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande. He also starred in Glee as one of the Warblers. Since then, Olivier has continued to steadily work on shows like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Code Black, Doctor Odyssey, and Good Trouble, where he played Tyler Banks for nine episodes. Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders aired in 2017 and starred Edie Falco as defense attorney Leslie Abramson. Actor Gus Halper played Erik Menendez in the series. Before Law & Order, he had landed roles in TV shows such as Power and Chicago P.D. Halper's career took off after this performance on Law & Order, and he was soon starring in shows like Happy!, Madam Secretary, Ramy, Dickinson, Evil, Fear the Walking Dead, and Law & Order: Organized Crime. In 2023, he appeared in the Oscar-nominated film Rustin as civil rights activist Tom Kahn alongside Colman Domingo (who played the title character). On Law & Order, Lyle Menendez was played by actor Miles Gaston Villanueva. Villanueva made his name in Hollywood starring in 87 episodes of The Young and the Restless, while also appearing in shows like NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Bones, and Jane the Virgin. Villanueva has continued his successful TV career, starring in eight episodes of The Resident, seven episodes of Nancy Drew, and seven episodes of Bosch: Legacy. He also appeared on the gritty superhero show The Boys as Supersonic, where he played a hero with sound-based powers. Supersonic was formerly a member of an all-super boy band called Super-Sweet — and he even dated Starlight.
Elle
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Nicholas Alexander Chavez Talks 'Monsters' and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'
Justin French Jacket, shirt, tie, pants, belt, Gucci. Five years ago, the pandemic was in its early stages, and with acting jobs drying up in Los Angeles, Nicholas Alexander Chavez found himself selling cars and doing door-to-door insurance sales in Florida. Four years later, he looked out onto Los Angeles's Sunset Boulevard to see three enormous billboards for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story , the Ryan Murphy and Netflix series he was starring in. Before the turn of events that led to his role as Lyle, the now 25-year-old Chavez says he had been grappling with the idea that his life was not how he thought it would be. Something, he acknowledges, a lot of people experienced during COVID. He had acted in school drama productions like To Kill a Mockingbird , and the positive response had pushed him to consider it as a career. That, coupled with a love of Shakespeare, led him to Rutgers University, where he studied drama for two years, before moving to L.A. to pursue acting full time. Justin French Coat, track jacket, track pants, loafers, Ferragamo. Socks, Falke. Soon after, the pandemic struck, and he moved to Florida. Although he was grateful to have a paycheck, something told him that acting wasn't quite out of the picture just yet. 'I knew that deep down I was an artist, and I was trying to figure out how that could be let out,' he says over a Zoom call, reminiscent of the pandemic past. 'I knew that deep down I was an artist, and I was trying to figure out how that could be let out.' Chavez credits a 'mindset shift,' brought on by advice he received from someone close to him that turned things around. 'I realized that whatever you're doing, you should just give it 100 percent, because you're there anyway,' he says. He started showing up to work with the idea that he wanted to 'be the best at selling cars today' so he could 'be the best actor tomorrow.' Before long, he had auditioned for and booked General Hospital , the long-running soap opera for which he won a Daytime Emmy, and the roles have kept coming ever since. Justin French Jacket, shirt, tie, pants, belt, Gucci. The two and a half years he spent on General Hospital proved pivotal to his future success. The grueling schedule, something he likens to 'exposure therapy,' instilled in him the work ethic needed in a demanding industry. He remembers at one point having to learn '80 pages of dialogue in a single day.' But those lessons would help him hold his own when he played alongside Chloë Sevigny and Javier Bardem in Monsters , and later when he starred opposite Niecy Nash in another Murphy production, the horror/drama Grotesquerie . He calls Murphy 'one of the most prolific television creators alive today'—and when asked if he'd be open if the producer were to come calling a third time, his answer is 'of course.' But he's also intrigued by 'the dark comedy space' and would like to star in a historical drama, saying there are 'so many interesting people who I'm personally fascinated with, and I'd love to tell their stories at some point in my career.' Justin French Coat, track jacket, track pants, loafers, Ferragamo. Socks, Falke. Right now, Chavez is gearing up for the July release of I Know What You Did Last Summer , the latest sequel to the 1997 iconic horror film of the same name. The production, which he promises packs a lot of 'shock factor,' features a large ensemble (including fellow ELLE Hollywood Rising member, Sarah Pidgeon) and sees the return of two of the franchise's original stars, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Justin French Jacket, shirt, tie, pants, belt, Gucci. For someone who feels happiest when he's working, becoming an actor wasn't something Chavez always saw for himself. As a child, he loved to pretend to be a priest. He would perform for his family, complete with bread and cranberry juice. And while he didn't necessarily take inspiration from his youth when he played Father Charlie Mayhew in Grotesquerie , he did say, 'Little me would be so proud if only he knew.' Reflecting on his time in Florida selling cars, he has no regrets: 'The universe just takes you on the journey that you need to go on,' he says. 'It was a weird journey that I didn't expect, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.' Hair by Sami Knight for Rehab; makeup by Alexandra French at Forward Artists; manicure by Jolene Brodeur at The Wall Group; produced by Anthony Federici at Petty Cash Production; photographed at Malibu Creek Ranch. A version of this story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of ELLE Related Stories
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Menendez Brothers Have Murder Sentence Reduced & Are Now Eligible For Parole
Erik and Lyle Menendez, who have served roughly 35 years of a life-without-parole prison sentence for the 1989 shotgun slayings of their parents in Beverly Hills, were re-sentenced today to 50 years to life, immediately making them eligible for parole. The decision by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic does not automatically mean the pair will be released from prison. They will have to appear before a parole board, which will recommend whether they should be available for parole. The recommendation would then go to Gov. Gavin Newsom,who could reject their release. More from Deadline Menendez Brothers' Attorney Seeks Lesser Voluntary Manslaughter Sentence As Hearing Begins Menendez Brothers Suddenly Withdraw Move To Toss L.A. DA Off Case; Resentencing Hearings Set For Next Week Menendez Brothers Resentencing: L.A. DA & Family's Lawyer Butt Heads Over Recusal Move & Media Hits A Week Ahead Of Pivotal Hearing Earlier today, relatives of the Menendez brothers testified on why they believed they should be released from prison, with their attorney Mark Geragos fighting for a reduced sentence of voluntary manslaughter. 'What we are pushing for, under the statute, is a recall of the sentence, a resentence that is meaningful modification,' he said. The Menendez brothers' case resurfaced following the release of the Netflix series created by Ryan Murphy, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Kim Kardashian, who has a working relationship with Murphy, was one of several high-profile personalities who made a call to have their life sentences reduced. After spending time with the brothers, the reality TV personality and criminal justice advocate penned an essay for NBC News where she made the case for them. 'We are all products of our experiences. They shape who we were, who we are, and who we will be. Physiologically and psychologically, time changes us, and I doubt anyone would claim to be the same person they were at 18. I know I'm not!' Kardashian writes in a personal essay. She continued, 'You think you know the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez. I certainly thought I did: In 1989, the brothers, aged 21 and 18, respectively, viciously shot and killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home. In 1996, after two trials, they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As is often the case, this story is much more complex than it appears on the surface. Both brothers said they had been sexually, physically and emotionally abused for years by their parents.' Kardashian noted that after the first trial was televised, the Menendez brothers were 'ridiculed in skits on Saturday Night Live' and 'the media turned the brothers into monsters and sensationalized eye candy,' which made them have 'no chance of a fair trial.' CNS contributed to this report. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About The 'Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Movie So Far TV Show Book Adaptations Arriving In 2025 So Far Book-To-Movie Adaptations Coming Out In 2025
Global News
13-05-2025
- Global News
Menendez brothers: L.A. judge to decide if Erik and Lyle should be freed
After months of delays, a hearing started Tuesday to decide whether Erik and Lyle Menendez should get a chance at freedom after serving nearly 30 years in prison for the double murder of their parents. A Los Angeles judge is presiding over the resentencing hearing that is expected to last two days. If he shortens their sentences, the brothers would still need approval from the state's parole board to get out of prison. They could then potentially go free on time served. View image in full screen This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. California Dept. of Corrections via AP, File They were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murdering their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers were 18 and 21 at the time of the killings. While defence lawyers argued the brothers acted out of self-defence after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multimillion-dollar inheritance. Story continues below advertisement Due to wildfires in the LA area and disputes between LA prosecutors and defence lawyers, the hearings were delayed for months. The case has captured the public's attention for decades — and last year, the Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and documentary The Menendez Brothers brought new attention to the case. Supporters of the brothers have flown in from across the country to attend rallies and hearings in the past few months. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Hearing begins with testimony from a family member The judge kicked off the hearing with a reminder to the packed courtroom that prosecutors must prove that the brothers are at an 'unreasonable risk' of committing serious and violent crimes if they are released. The defence began by calling Ana Maria Baralt, a cousin of Erik and Lyle, who testified that the brothers have repeatedly expressed remorse for their actions. 'We all, on both sides of the family, believe that 35 years is enough,' Baralt said. 'They are universally forgiven by our family.' Story continues below advertisement Judge to rule on a lesser sentence The resentencing hearing will centre on whether the brothers have been rehabilitated in prison and deserve a lesser sentence of 50 years to life. That would make them eligible for parole under California's youthful offender law because they committed the crime under the age of 26. Their defence lawyer, Mark Geragos, said in April he may ask the judge to reduce their charges to manslaughter, potentially allowing them to be immediately released. View image in full screen FILE – Erik Menendez (L) and his brother Lyle (R) listen during a pre-trial hearing, on December 29, 1992 in Los Angeles after the two pleaded innocent in the August 1989 shotgun deaths of their wealthy parents, Jose and Mary Louise Menendez of Beverly Hills, Calif. Vince Bucci / AFP via Getty Images Geragos said last Friday that he plans to call at least seven family members to testify at the hearings. As in previous proceedings, the brothers will appear virtually. It was unclear if they will testify. Los Angeles County prosecutors will be arguing against the resentencing. They say the brothers have not taken complete responsibility for the crime. Prosecutors will likely reference the preliminary findings from a forensic psychologist who looked at whether the brothers pose a risk to society if released, an assessment ordered by the state parole board. The admissibility of the results in court have been a point of contention for the two sides, as they have not been made public, but the judge said last Friday that some parts can be included. Story continues below advertisement Former district attorney and family support resentencing The previous LA County District Attorney, George Gascón, had opened the door to possible freedom for the brothers last fall by asking a judge to reduce their sentences. His office said the case would've been handled differently today due to modern understandings of sexual abuse and trauma, and the brothers' rehabilitation over three decades in prison. A resentencing petition laid out by Gascón focuses on the brothers' accomplishments and rehabilitation. The brothers' lawyers say their clients have worked hard to better themselves and give back to the prison community. The extended Menendez family, with the exception of an uncle who died in March, has said they fully forgive the brothers for what they did and want them to be freed. Since their conviction, the brothers have gotten an education, participated in self-help classes and started various support groups for their fellow inmates. Story continues below advertisement The new LA prosecutor changed course The current district attorney, Nathan Hochman, reversed course from Gascón and opposed the brothers' resentencing. Hochman's office has said it does not believe that the brothers were sexually abused by their father. Prosecutors also say the brothers have not admitted to lying during their trial. Outside the courthouse Tuesday morning, Hochman said he believes the brothers are not ready for resentencing because 'they have not come clean' about their crimes. 'Our position is not 'no,' it's not 'never,' it's 'not yet,'' Hochman said. 'They have not fully accepted responsibility for all their criminal conduct.' Recently, prosecutors cited the forensic psychologist's analysis that said the brothers had recently broken prison rules by smuggling cellphones inside, which Hochman argued demonstrated an inability to regulate their own behavior. It came to the conclusion that they were 'moderately more likely' than others to engage in violence in the community, Hochman said. With Hochman in charge, prosecutors attempted twice to withdraw their office's resentencing petition. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic ruled both times that the resentencing hearings could continue despite their opposition. The judge could decide on the resentencing from the bench during the hearing or issue a written ruling later.
