What to know about the Menendez brothers' bid for freedom

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The district attorney of Los Angeles County has recommended resentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez who were convicted for killing their parents in 1989 and may now have a pathway to freedom after spending 34 years behind bars.

Here are some things to know about the case:

The shotgun killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez took place on Aug. 20, 1989, in their Beverly Hills mansion. Their son Lyle Menendez was the one who called 911, with brothers initially claiming the killing was Mafia-related or connected to their father's business dealings. The brothers went on spending sprees, buying Rolex watches, cars and houses. Two months later, Erik Menendez told his psychologist, Jerome Oziel, that he and his brother killed their parents. They were eventually arrested and charged in their parents' deaths.

The murder case captured the public's attention. Coming on the heels of the O.J. Simpson trial, the nation was hungry for true crime TV. The brothers' first trial was one of the first to be almost entirely televised on Court TV. It spawned documentaries, television specials and dramatizations. The Netflix drama “ Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez Story " and the documentary “The Menendez Brothers," released in the fall of 2024, have been credited in recent weeks for bringing new attention to the case.

The brothers' first trial took place in 1993 with separate juries. Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ attorneys never disputed the pair killed their parents, but argued that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.

Both trials resulted in a hung jury on all three counts for the killing of Jose and Kitty Menendez, and the conspiracy to commit murder. The juries were split over murder and manslaughter convictions.

At the second trial in 1995, the judge excluded a substantial amount of evidence that was heard in the first trial, including testimony from several family members who witnessed or heard about the abuse. Prosecutors doubled down on their claim that no abuse happened. A single jury convicted both brothers of three counts, including first-degree murder, plus lying in-wait and special circumstance allegations. They were sentenced to life without parole in 1996.

In the years that followed, the brothers' repeatedly appealed their convictions. In 1998, they were denied by an appellate court and the California Supreme Court. Their petitions for habeas corpus, a request for a court to examine whether someone is being lawfully detained, were denied by the state Supreme Court.

After exhausting their options in state court, they filed petitions in federal court, which were denied. They then appealed in 2005 to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied them again.

Their attorney said after that appeal failed, they resigned themselves to spending the rest of their lives in prison.

In 2015, the brothers heard about a letter written by Erik Menendez to his uncle Andy Cano that was mentioned in a Barbara Walters television special. When they asked their attorneys about it, the attorneys were unaware of the letter and realized it had not been introduced at either trial, making it effectively new evidence.

This letter, attorneys say, corroborates the allegations that Erik was sexually abused by his father.

Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, recently came forward saying he was drugged and raped by Jose Menendez, the boys’ father, when he was a teen in the 1980s. Menudo was signed under RCA Records, which Jose Menendez headed at the time.

Rossello spoke about his abuse in the Peacock docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed.” He provided a signed declaration to the brothers' lawyers, the final piece of evidence needed for them to file a new petition for habeas corpus in May 2023 and ask for a reexamination of the case.

Los Angeles County prosecutors have recommended that the brothers receive a new sentence of 50 years to life. Because they were under 26 years old at the time of the crimes, they would be eligible for parole immediately under a California law that went into effect in 2018.

District Attorney George Gascón said he took several factors into consideration when making the decision, including the brothers' rehabilitation in prison. In documents filed by his office, prosecutors pointed to both brothers' educational achievements — both have attained several degrees — and contributions to the community, such as a GreenSpace prison beautification program started by Lyle Menendez. Both brothers also received low-risk assessment scores.

Gascón also said the trial would have been treated differently with today's understanding of how sexual and physical abuse affects children.

The brothers have the strong support of most of their family, who say they were victims that were vilified. One of their uncles, however, wants them to remain in prison.

The petition for resentencing will now be reviewed by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. Legal experts say it won’t be a smooth process though.

Gascón faces dissent from within his own office regarding the decision, and one of the family members does not support resentencing. They will have an opportunity to make their arguments heard in front of a judge.

If he agrees with the resentencing recommendation, the brothers will need the state parole board to grant their release. California Gov. Gavin Newsom then has 150 days to review the parole board's decision.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, right, flanked by Menedez family members talks during a news conference at the Hall of Justice on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Diane Hernandez niece of Kitty Menendez is joined by Arnold VanderMolen, Nephew of Kitty Menendez, right, and Kitty Menendez's sister, Joan Andersen VanderMolen, center sit at a news conference being held by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Media gather for a news conference being held by Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Mark Geragos defense attorney for Erik and Lyle Menendez surrounded by family members talks during a news conference on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, talks during a news conference at the Hall of Justice on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Dept. of Corrections via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stacey Williams is accusing former President Donald Trump of groping her at Trump Tower in early 1993 as disgraced hedge fund manager Jeffrey Epstein watched.

The former model initially made the allegation on Monday during a video chat of sexual violence survivors supporting Vice President Kamala Harris ' campaign. In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, she described walking down New York City's Fifth Avenue with Epstein, whom she was seeing at the time, when he suggested they visit Trump in his namesake tower.

As soon as Trump saw her, she said, he “had his arms around me and pulled me into him.”

“Then he started groping me. He started rubbing his hands up and down my body. He touched my breasts. He touched my waist. He touched my butt,” she said. “And while his hands are on me, he’s continuing to have a conversation with Jeffrey who is, you know, standing across from us. And I just froze. I was so confused.”

Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokeswoman, called the allegations “unequivocally false” and argued they were politically motivated.

The organizer of the Survivors for Kamala video call said this week’s meeting was not affiliated with the Harris campaign and was an outside gathering of sexual violence survivors and advocate organizations. The Harris campaign declined Friday to comment on the allegations. And Williams said while she is voting for Harris, she has not had any contact with the Democrat’s campaign or knowingly had contact with people associated with her run.

The allegation is the latest in a lengthy list of accusations made against Trump, including by E. Jean Carroll, who has been locked in a legal battle with the businessman-turned-president after a jury found him liable in 2023 for sexually assaulting the advice columnist in 1996 and later for defaming her. The allegations against Trump go back decades and include those described in the “Access Hollywood” tape, a 2005 video made public weeks before the 2016 election that showed the then-reality television star bragging about grabbing, forcibly kissing and sexually assaulting women.

In the interview, Williams said the encounter with Trump “felt orchestrated," like she got “walked in there for that moment and they both knew exactly what they were doing.”

“I was just like this, you know, thing to be played with over some sort of twisted game or a bet or something,” she added.

At the time of the alleged incident, Trump was in his mid-40s, while Williams was in her mid-20s. Williams said she recalled “an assistant who had walked by a couple of times” and whom she had been introduced to, but the encounter was primarily just her, Trump and Epstein. In total, she said, the encounter lasted around “about five minutes, maybe a little longer, definitely less than 10 minutes. ”

While Epstein was conversational and said nothing to Trump in the moment, Williams recalls his “energy” changing when they got in the elevator to leave.

“He wasn’t making eye contact with me. He seemed like he was seething, like he was really angry,” she said. “And my heart was still pounding and I was still confused.”

When the two got to the street, she said: “The first thing he said was, ‘Why did you let him do that?’ And he berated me. ... Of course, I immediately then felt ashamed."

The two went in different directions after that encounter — “I went downtown, he went uptown,” she said — and it was then that Williams said she really began to absorb what happened.

On the call earlier in the week, Williams added that “not long after” that meeting in Trump Tower she received a postcard from Trump. Williams said her agent received the postcard, via courier, from Trump.

Williams' team provided the AP with images of the postcard. One side is a photo of Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s resort in Florida, and the other side is writing allegedly from Trump. “Stacey, your home away from home. Love, Donald,” reads the postcard.

Williams said her encounter with Trump was the third — and final — time she had met Trump. The two had met earlier at a Christmas party that the businessman had thrown in 1992, but after their encounter in early 1993, the model had “such an aversion to running into him after that. I never wanted to be around him again, ever.” Williams said she saw Epstein “one or two more times" after the 1993 encounter with Trump.

Although Trump has sought to distance himself from Epstein in recent years, he told New York Magazine in 2002 that he had known “Jeff” for 15 years.

“Terrific guy,” Trump told the magazine. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

Williams said that when the “Access Hollywood” tape came out, she thought, “Finally everyone’s going to find out what a freaky guy this is, that he does stuff like this.”

“I had an urge to sort of tell the story. But, you know, as the mother of a young child, I wasn’t going to bring that into my life,” she said Friday.

When Trump went on to win the election, however, Williams said she was “sickened.”

“It was beyond beyond comprehension ... just like we are in the upside down,” she said.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a Turning Point Action campaign rally, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Duluth, Ga. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a faith town hall with Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones at Christ Chapel Zebulon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in Zebulon, Ga. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)