Erik and Lyle Menendez don't appear to be getting out of prison before the holidays ... because their upcoming resentencing hearing has been delayed.
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00:00Big day for Eric and Lyle Menendez, because they appeared in court today for the first time in 30, what, 35 years?
00:09Kind of, sort of. Kind of, sort of.
00:12They appeared by, they were not, they're still in their prison, but they appeared, or at least the plan was for them to appear
00:18On WebEx.
00:18By WebEx.
00:19And the problem is, WebEx crapped out from the prison, so nobody could see them in court.
00:24The only thing they had was audio, and they didn't speak.
00:28So they heard the proceedings.
00:29But nobody, nobody could react to what they were doing or seeing or hearing.
00:34Here's what we know.
00:35So this was a status conference, which is basically a housekeeping thing.
00:40You know, how you guys do it on this hearing and everything.
00:43But it turned into a bigger thing just because there's been so much attention.
00:47So what's interesting is that, look, Mark Garagos, their lawyer, is trying to either have them resentenced
00:56Or, even more important for them, to change the conviction from murder to manslaughter.
01:01So there are a bunch of witnesses, two dozen witnesses, from the families of Jose and Kitty Menendez
01:08Who are basically supporting Eric and Lyle getting out.
01:12And two of them were called to testify today.
01:15Mark Garagos had those family members go up and testify and tell the judge why they believe that Eric and Lyle should be let out.
01:23But they weren't testifying because this was the issue before the court today.
01:28They were testifying because they're both ill.
01:31And the worry is that they may not be able to testify when the next hearing occurs.
01:38So they took it out of order.
01:39And they decided to listen to them.
01:41And they basically made their impassioned plea for the judge to let Eric and Lyle out of prison.
01:48Now, as far as that next hearing.
01:49It was supposed to be December 11th.
01:52Right.
01:52And that is not going to be the case now.
01:55Welcome to the justice system.
01:57The judge has a conflict.
01:59So you would think, okay, if there's a conflict, maybe they'll make it December 15th.
02:04Nope.
02:04January 30th is the hearing.
02:06So it went from December 11th, where you think Eric and Lyle are thinking, my God.
02:12Yeah, we could be home for the holidays.
02:14And all of a sudden now, it's almost two months later that they're going to have this hearing.
02:18So at the end of January is the big hearing now.
02:22They will be spending the holidays the way they did the last 34 years in prison.
02:28But they are together.
02:29I think it'll take more time.
02:30They're not going to be home for the holidays.
02:31But this does give the new DA, Nathan Hockman, more time to look at what is a voluminous case file.
02:36And I think that could cut in their favor.
02:38If he takes a deep look at the extent of their rehabilitation, maybe it helps them.
02:42There's another development here.
02:43There have been these rumors swirling.
02:45Is Lyle Menendez still married?
02:48What's the deal with this new woman that he's seen in prison?
02:52We have answers now.
02:53Exactly.
02:54So Millie is the new woman that he has been seen visiting with in prison down in San Diego.
03:00But his wife, or we should say estranged wife, Rebecca, says this is not a cheating scandal.
03:06This is what she had to say about this.
03:08She said, guys, this is not a cheating scandal.
03:10Lyle and I have been separated for a while now.
03:13But remain best friends and family.
03:15I continue to run his Facebook pages with input from him.
03:19And I am forever committed to the enduring fight for Lyle and Eric's freedom,
03:23as has been so evident over the years.
03:26So they have a lot of support for release.
03:31So now the issue is, what is the judge going to do here?
03:35And I think it's relevant to say, remember, there were two trials.
03:39They were convicted in the second.
03:41But in the first trial, where the judge, same judge,
03:44allowed in evidence of sexual abuse at the hands of Jose,
03:48half the jury said it was manslaughter and not murder.
03:52And that's what Mark Garagos is arguing now.
03:54And he said there's even new, stronger evidence that they were molested.
03:59And the play is going to be, make it manslaughter.
04:03If you do, they've served three times the maximum sentence.
04:06Right.
04:06And they'd be out immediately.
04:08So now instead of the holidays, they could be home for Valentine's Day?
04:12Possible.
04:13Yeah, absolutely.
04:14I'm Paige from California.
04:17Listen, the infamous Menendez brothers,
04:19potentially getting re-sentenced and possibly out of jail,
04:22definitely wasn't on our bingo cards.
04:24What's pivotal here, though, is that we may be viewing this case
04:27that once felt so black and white, so closed, differently now.
04:32With a 2024 lens and all of this new evidence,
04:37we might find out that they were wronged all those years ago.
04:40Thing is, it's going to be a 2025 lens by the time they get to court.
04:43Exactly.