Court Rejects Bid to Move Retrial of Menendez Brothers
The California Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a bid to move the Menendez brothers’ murder trial to a courtroom in Downtown Los Angeles, ensuring that the retrial will take place in Van Nuys.
Prosecutors had asked Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg to move the trial to the Criminal Courts Building, where the district attorney’s main office is located.
Defense attorneys also asked to move the trial Downtown. The defense even commissioned a poll showing that potential jurors in Van Nuys are more likely to convict Erik and Lyle Menendez than jurors Downtown.
The brothers’ retrial is due to begin Aug. 23. They are charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 20, 1989, shotgun slayings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
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