Menendez Judge Says Therapist Must Testify : Murder case: The order is a blow to the defense in the upcoming trial of brothers accused of slaying parents. The doctor’s tapes allegedly contain confessions by the suspects.
A psychotherapist for two brothers charged with murdering their millionaire parents must testify about their alleged confessions, a judge ruled Thursday.
In an eagerly anticipated pretrial decision, Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg said that Dr. L. Jerome Oziel will testify in the trial of Erik Menendez, 22, and his brother, Lyle, 25.
The brothers are accused of the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Oziel is considered the prosecution’s star witness.
According to testimony heard Wednesday, Oziel demanded three years ago that police listen to tapes of psychotherapy sessions in which the brothers allegedly confessed to murdering their parents.
Judge Weisberg ruled Thursday that Oziel’s “recollection can’t be eliminated. It can’t be erased. It can’t be destroyed, and it cannot be suppressed. He can and will be required to testify in this trial.”
Weisberg’s order dealt a heavy blow to the defense. The Menendez brothers’ attorneys had sought to suppress the tape recordings, claiming they were illegally seized from Oziel’s safe deposit box.
Attorney Gary Mogil said Wednesday that Oziel volunteered to take police to a bank deposit box containing four tapes. Mogil had been appointed to seize items listed in a search warrant.
“When we went back to his home, Jerome Oziel insisted we play the tapes,” Mogil testified.
Trial is set for June 14.
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