Menendez Brothers: Erik and Lyle's family pushes for their release from prison

LOS ANGELES – Nearly two dozen family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez gathered for a news conference in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, pleading for the brothers' release from prison after their parents were murdered in their Beverly Hills mansion 35 years ago.

“You have spent over 35 years in prison. If they were the Menendez sisters, they wouldn't be in custody. We’ve evolved,” said Mark Geragos, Erik and Lyle’s defenseman.

Geragos said during their time in prison, the brothers developed programs to counsel and mentor other inmates and were part of the first class of 22 prisoners to earn bachelor's degrees at the prison.

He added that several senior corrections officials had submitted letters attesting to the brothers' “phenomenal behavior” in prison.

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“For us, this is not a political issue, it is about truth, justice and healing,” said Anamaria Baralt, cousin of Erik and Lyle.

“If Lyle and Erik's case were tried today, and given the understanding we now have about abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, there is no doubt in my mind that their sentencing would have been very different,” she said.

She went on to call the brothers “victims of a culture unwilling to listen” and asked the DA's office to help end “this 34-year nightmare” and “consider the bigger picture.”

“Lyle and Erik deserve a chance to heal, and our family deserves a chance to heal with them.”

Joan Andersen VanderMolen, sister of Kitty Menendez, called the couple's actions “tragic” but the “desperate reaction of two boys trying to survive their father's unspeakable cruelty.”

“I had no idea the extent of the abuse they had suffered at the hands of my brother-in-law. None of us knew,” she added. “We know that abuse has long-term effects and victims of trauma sometimes act in ways that are very difficult to understand.”

“The whole world was not ready to hear that boys could be raped,” she said, adding: “Today we know better.”

“I have known Erik and Lyle my whole life. I can tell you without a doubt that they are not the villains they are portrayed to be. They were boys, young, scared and abused by their father in a way that no child should ever have to experience,” said Brian Andersen Jr., nephew of Kitty Menendez.

Prosecutors at the time claimed there was no evidence of harassment. They said the sons were after their parents' multi-million dollar estate.

“They tried to protect themselves the only way they knew how,” Andersen said. “Instead of being seen as victims, they were vilified.”

“They no longer pose a threat to society,” he continued.

While several family members support the brothers, Kitty Menendez's brother, Milton Andersen, believes justice has been served and his nephews should remain in prison. In a statement from victims' rights attorney Kathy Cady, Anderson was not informed of the case reassignment or the press conference … and said it was a “flagrant violation of his rights as a family member of a victim.”

“The news of this press conference scheduled for October 16th only underscores Gascón’s consistent approach to elevating victims who agree with his views and silencing those who do not,” attorney Cady wrote in a statement .

New evidence presented

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón's office is actively reviewing the case.

In a statement Wednesday evening, the DA's office wrote: “In addition to the habeas petitions being processed by the Office's Writs and Appeals Division and being considered by the Court, the Menendez brothers' cases are being reviewed by Please Contact Due.” possible new convictions to the office's Resentencing Unit.

Over the weekend, prosecutors revealed one of two “new pieces of evidence” in the case.

It appeared to be a handwritten letter from Erik Menendez to his cousin Andy Cano, in which Erik allegedly complained about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father eight months before the August 1989 murders.

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According to the brothers' lawyers, Cano's mother found the letter nine years ago. Cano testified in court that Erik told him about his father's abuse when Erik was 13 years old. Cano died in 2003.

The second piece of evidence examined was a sworn statement from a former member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, who claimed he was abused by José Menendez as a teenager.

Lyle and Erik Menendez have been serving life sentences since 1996 for killing their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez. While the brothers never denied killing their parents, lawyers argued in court that they feared for their lives after suffering years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father.

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The Menendez brothers have unsuccessfully appealed their convictions several times over the years.

Their lawyers argue that because of society's changing views on sexual abuse today, the brothers may not have been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

“What happened is tragic. But I forgive my cousins. I have forgiven them because I know they acted out of fear and desperation. They were children. No child should ever have to endure such pain. This abuse trapped her. It “It was painful and it scared them. Their fathers' abuse destroyed their lives and the lives of their families, and the courts failed them,” said Karen VanderMolen, niece of Kitty Menendez.

Interest in the case has recently increased again with the release of the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and an upcoming documentary in which the brothers will tell their side of the story.

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The brothers have a hearing on November 29th.

The family hopes to have Erik and Lyle home by Thanksgiving.

FOX News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.