Relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez are calling on prosecutors to convict the brothers

Friends and family of Erik and Lyle Menendez argued during a news conference Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles that the brothers be resentenced for the killings of their parents, hoping it will pave the way for their eventual release from prison would.

More than 20 relatives stood outside the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Wednesday, calling on the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office to convict the brothers and for the public to support efforts to free them.

“If Erik and Lyle's case were tried today, and with the understanding we have now about abuse and (post-traumatic stress disorder), there is no doubt in my mind that their sentencing would have been very different,” said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the siblings.

The two brothers spent more than three decades in prison after being sentenced to life in prison without parole for the gruesome murder of their parents.

At some point the two were threatened with a death sentence. Now lawyers for the siblings and several family members are seizing the opportunity to re-sentence or possibly release the brothers.

Previous efforts by the brothers and their attorneys to shorten their detention were unsuccessful, but the Dist. is currently reviewing a new writ of habeas corpus citing new evidence. Atty. George Gascón's office.

Prosecutors have been quietly reviewing the Menendez case and her petition for more than a year. But renewed public attention on the case, sparked in part by the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” prompted Gascón to hold a news conference earlier this month.

Gascón gave no indication which direction he and his office were leaning toward, but said he hoped to “bring finality” to the case at a Nov. 26 hearing.

“We are not ready at this point to say that we believe or do not believe this information,” Gascón said during the press conference. “But we are here to tell you that we have a moral and ethical obligation to consider what is presented to us and make a decision.”

The two brothers bought shotguns in 1989 and killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home. Prosecutors said Jose Menendez was shot five times, including once in the back of the head. His wife, Kitty Menendez, is believed to have been crawling on the ground, wounded, before the brothers reloaded and fired a final shot.

Erik and Lyle Menendez became the prime suspects after Erik confessed to his therapist in March 1990.

Police and prosecutors argued that the two killed their parents to get their hands on the estate worth millions. But defense attorneys argued that the gruesome killings came after the brothers endured years of violent sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

The first trial, broadcast live on the cable television channel CourtTV, included testimony about the alleged abuse and ended with the jury unable to reach a unanimous verdict against either brother.

However, in the second trial, Lyle Menendez did not testify, and much of the testimony about abuse was excluded. Prosecutors also argued that the abuse allegations against Jose Menendez, an executive at RCA Records, were fabricated.

The habeas petition, currently being considered by prosecutors, pointed to evidence contained in the Peacock documentary “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed,” which alleged that Jose Menendez also had a then-underage member of the pop band Menudo from the 1980s attacked.

The series also referenced a letter Erik Menendez allegedly wrote eight months before the 1989 shooting that suggested he had been sexually abused until his late teens.

The letter had been discovered years earlier by family members but had not been presented to the court for review until the habeas petition.

Mark Geragos, one of the attorneys who represented the brothers in their petition, said the brothers exhausted their legal options to appeal in 2005.

“They had resigned themselves to being in prison for the rest of their lives,” Geragos said Wednesday. But the evidence cited in the motion has given them the opportunity to reconsider.

He called the support from more than 20 relatives “unprecedented.”

Baralt pointed to Erik and Lyle Menendenz's time in prison and noted that the two were involved in prison rehab programs even though there was little hope of release.

“Despite their circumstances, they chose to live in the light,” she said. “Lye and Erik deserve a chance.”

Baralt and other relatives were also scheduled to meet with the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office on Wednesday to discuss their support for the resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez.

“I never thought this day would come,” said Joan Andersen VanderMolen, sister of Kitty Menendez. “As details of Erik and Lyle’s abuse emerged, it became clear that their actions, while tragic, were the desperate response of two boys trying to survive their father’s unspeakable cruelty.”

Brian Anderson Jr., the cousin of Erik and Lyle Menendez, said he would welcome the brothers into his home if they were released.

“I can tell you without a doubt that they are not the villains they have been made out to be,” he said. “They were boys, young, scared and abused by their father in a way that no child should ever have to experience.”

Relatives urged their supporters to sign an online petition in support of resentencing the brothers.

Not all of the siblings' relatives agree on the future of Erik and Lyle Menendez.

In a statement, Milton Andersen, Kitty Menendez's brother, said he believes the two should remain in prison. His attorney, Kathy Cady, criticized Gascón, saying he had not kept Anderson informed about the case.

“The lack of clarity and transparency once again leaves Mr. Andersen in the dark,” she said in the statement. “He shouldn’t find out about the future of his sister’s murder case through a magazine or a press conference.”