October 12, 1995
Web posted at: 6:30 p.m. EDT
From Correspondent Anne McDermott and CNN reports
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The public defender for Lyle Menendez, accused along with his brother of the shotgun murders of their parents six years ago, is scheduled to present his opening statement Thursday. The jury already has heard from the prosecution and from the lawyer representing Erik Menendez.
Both Lyle and Erik are expected to testify at their retrial which, unlike their first trial for the Beverly Hills slayings, is not open to television coverage. Still photos, however, are being allowed.
Saying the killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez were not murder, the attorney for Erik Menendez asked the jury to consider manslaughter charges instead. In her opening statement, attorney Leslie Abramson said the single most important issue is why Jose and Kitty Menendez were killed by their children. Both Lyle, 27, and Erik, 24, have admitted to shooting their parents to death. But Abramson said it was not murder because there was no malice in the act. Citing years of psychological and sexual abuse, she said the brothers killed out of fear. "If it's fear, and not malice, it's not murder," she said.
Prosecutor David Conn, who is new to the case, promises to reveal fresh details about the killings, including "a blow-by-blow account of every shot fired in the room."
In his opening statement, Conn showed a photo of the blood- spattered body of Jose Menendez and pointed out a head wound that left such a large hole that when coroners moved the body, the brain fell out. Jurors looked somber. The Menendez brothers looked away. Abramson said later she expected the prosecution's "blood and gore" tactics but believes the jurors will "get use to all the ugly pictures and then they will get on trying to figure out why this did happen." (More from Abramson - 162K AIFF sound or 162K WAV sound)
Abramson told the jury she will introduce evidence that Erik suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has symptoms including helplessness, depression, pervasive anxiety and low self-esteem. The attorney, who also represented Erik in the first trial last year, said her client suffered from PTSD because of years of sexual and psychological abuse.
She said that at the time Erik took part in the killing of his parents, he was in a state of terror and panic, shooting them to prevent his own death. Calling Jose And Kitty Menendez manipulative, controlling and domineering, Abramson said she will prove that Erik was tortured, terrorized, exploited and molested to such an extent that he lived in a constant state of fear of his parents.
Some jurors looked at the defendants as Abramson described how Jose Menendez allegedly abused Erik both sexually and psychologically from the time he was 6 years old until just before the murders. Abramson said she will call forensic experts in the case, including Dr. Michael Baden, a defense witness in the O.J. Simpson trial. She said the experts will testify that the crime scene was one of "overkill," which is often the result of extreme fear of the targets by the shooters.
But prosecutor Conn pointed out that Lyle and Erik went on a buying spree after the killings, spending about $1 million in their first six months as orphans. Conn also maintained the killings were carefully planned, and the brothers tried to fool police, beginning with the call to a 9-1-1 operator in which Lyle said "someone killed my parents." (More from the 911 call - 77K AIFF sound or 77K WAV sound)
Erik and Lyle Menendez have been in jail ever since their arrests more than five years ago. Their first trial was conducted before two juries. Mistrials were declared after both juries were unable to reach verdicts last year. Only one jury was chosen for the retrial.
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