VAN NUYS : Menendez Brothers to Be Tried Before Dual Juries
A judge ruled Tuesday that two Beverly Hills brothers accused in the shotgun murders of their parents at the family’s $4-million mansion in 1989 will be tried before separate juries. The complicated scenario arose because attorneys for the siblings might object to a jury hearing evidence against one defendant that could prejudice the panel against the other.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Pam Bozanich, the lead prosecutor in the case against Lyle Menendez, 25, and his brother, Erik, 22, explained why she decided against pursuing a one-jury trial.
“In that we cannot predict what evidence the court will allow in a single trial, we feel that we can’t do anything but have two juries in this case,” she said. The brothers are accused in the Aug. 20, 1989, murders of Jose, 45, and Kitty Menendez, 47. The multimillionaire couple are believed to have been shot 15 times at point-blank range.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg had said during a pretrial hearing Monday that he was reconsidering the decision for separate juries.
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