Overview

• Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan on Monday rejected Erik and Lyle Menendez’s habeas corpus petition seeking a retrial in their parents’ 1989 killings.
• Ryan’s 17-page ruling said the purported new evidence was not particularly strong and would not have produced reasonable doubt, a hung jury, or a lesser offense.
• The petition centered on an Erik Menendez letter to cousin Andy Cano from 1988–89 and a declaration by former Menudo member Roy Rosselló alleging abuse by Jose Menendez.
• The district attorney’s office opposed the bid, pointing to taped confessions and detailed evidence of planning and premeditation.
• The brothers were resentenced in May to 50 years to life, were denied parole for three years in August, and now have clemency requests pending before Gov. Gavin Newsom.