Jury Told Lyle Menendez Feared Tapes’ Disclosure : Court: ‘Best friend’ describes defendant’s instructions to call lawyer. Glenn Stevens also admits to inconsistencies in his story and to stealing money and fabricating resume entries.

Just a few days before his arrest in the shotgun slayings of his parents, Lyle Menendez gave friends $2,000 and told them that if “anything should happen,” they were to call a lawyer who “knows everything,” one of the friends testified Wednesday.

On a plane trip to California from New Jersey, Lyle Menendez also disclosed that he had been going to a therapist, who had made tape recordings of his sessions, Glenn Stevens testified. “He said, ‘If the police get their hands on those tapes,’ and I quote, ‘I’m ------,’ ” Stevens testified.

Later, however, Stevens conceded that he had trouble with his memory, that some testimony was inconsistent with his prior comments, that he was a thief and that he had dramatically embellished his resume. He also called himself Lyle Menendez’s best friend but said he had regularly fed police information.

“Friendship transcends a lot of things,” Stevens said, refusing to look at his onetime friend, who was watching him intently. “But homicide is not one of them.”

Lyle Menendez, 25, and his brother, Erik Menendez, 22, are charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 20, 1989, slayings of their parents, Jose Menendez, 45, a wealthy entertainment executive, and Kitty Menendez, 47. The parents were killed in the TV room of the family’s $4-million Beverly Hills mansion.

Prosecutors contend that the brothers killed out of greed and hatred, and are seeking the death penalty. Defense lawyers have said the brothers killed their parents but fired in self-defense after years of physical, mental and sexual abuse.

The prosecution case relies heavily on L. Jerome Oziel, the psychologist mentioned in Stevens’ testimony. According to court documents, Erik Menendez confessed to Oziel two months after the killings, and the therapist is likely to be in court today for legal arguments over his scheduled testimony Friday.

Since it began last week, the Menendez trial has been shown daily on Court TV, a cable channel. The mix of TV drama, courtroom testimony and legal logistics came to an unusual intersection Wednesday during Stevens’ testimony.

Defense lawyer Jill Lansing asked him, “Have you been watching this show on Court TV?” She immediately corrected herself: “I mean this trial?”

When not testifying, witnesses are almost always barred from the courtroom so they cannot tailor what they say to prior witnesses’ statements. But Stevens, 23, said he had been watching “portions of it every day” in New Jersey, where he lives. Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg nodded but said nothing.

Two juries are hearing the case, one for each brother. Stevens’ testimony Wednesday was before the Lyle Menendez jury only.

Stevens and Lyle Menendez met while attending Princeton University.

In 1989 and 1990, Lyle Menendez gave him money, the down payment for a car, a rent-free apartment and gifts, including a Rolex watch, plane tickets, hotels and meals, Stevens said.

Lyle Menendez also gave him a job, at a restaurant Menendez bought in late 1989 in Princeton, N.J., that specializes in buffalo wings, Stevens said. The job paid $50,000 a year, he said.

But under questioning by defense attorney Lansing, Stevens said he told a Los Angeles County grand jury he never accepted anything from Lyle Menendez. He said he sold the watch.

Within weeks of the killings, he said, he began to forward information about Lyle Menendez to police. On Sept. 18, 1989, he said, he told police his friend was “arrogant and condescending and spending money in an offensive way,” which disturbed him.

Stevens said he “pilfered” a “couple hundred dollars” from the restaurant till. “I just took the money because I got vindictive,” he said.

On his resume, Stevens said he supervised 20 people at the restaurant. In truth, he said Wednesday, it was five. The resume said he did the restaurant’s accounting. He did not, he said Wednesday.

The resume also said he was his high school valedictorian, had received an academic award and took part in various business and community activities. None of those things were true, he testified.

Lansing asked whether it was OK in some situations to lie. Stevens responded, “I would say so.”