A juror who served on the first Menendez brothers murder trial revealed the outcome of the first trial was a “classic battle of the sexes,” but claims it would be “very different today.”
Hazel Thornton told NewsNation’s Banfield that during her time on the jury of the high-profile case, it appeared that “the men in the room did not believe that Jose (Menendez) had been abusing his sons.”
Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were found guilty of killing their parents Jose and Kitty Menendez in August 1989, admitted to the killings. But they contended that they did so out of fear, especially of their father, a millionaire Hollywood entertainment executive who they claimed was a violent pedophile.
On Thursday, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that prosecutors would be reviewing new evidence and will make a decision on whether a resentencing is warranted in the notorious case that captured national attention.
Thornton told NewsNation’s Banfield that if the brothers are tried again, “the outcome would be very different.”
“I hope they are not tried again,” she said. “I hope they are simply resentenced, because I think a new trial would cost millions of dollars and wear everybody out for no good reason.
“I think that they should be resentenced, but if they were tried again, I do think that the outcome would be very different, because people know more these days, people understand more these days.”
Attorneys for the Menendez brothers share Thorton’s sentiment, arguing that because of society’s changing views on sexual abuse the brothers may not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole today.
They filed a habeas petition to vacate their 1996 convictions based on new evidence just a day after Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, premiered on Netflix in September.
Thornton says she has no plans to watch it.
“Why would I want to watch a story that doesn’t reflect the truth as I know it?” Thornton said.
Attorneys for the Menendez brothers, who are now aged 53 and 56, are now hoping they will be resentenced to time served and let out of prison.
