LOS ANGELES : Judge Reconsiders Seating 2 Menendez Trial Juries
A judge said Monday he is reconsidering his decision to have two juries seated simultaneously in the murder trial of two brothers charged in the murders of their wealthy parents.
Lawyers for Erik and Lyle Menendez maintain that evidence against the brothers is different enough to require two juries. Prosecutors have favored trying the brothers before one jury.
Last month, Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg ordered two juries impaneled for the trial. But when he returned from vacation Monday, he said he had thought it over and wanted more legal arguments on the issue. “I feel the matter has not been sufficiently litigated and discussed,” Weisberg said.
He then closeted himself in his chambers with defense and prosecution lawyers for more than an hour. At the end of the session, another hearing was scheduled for this afternoon.
The Menendez brothers are scheduled for trial nearly four years after the August, 1989, shotgun slayings of their parents, Kitty and Jose Menendez. The couple were slain in their Beverly Hills mansion while they sat watching TV.
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