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Lyle and Erik Menendez may have another day in court. With a new court hearing scheduled to take place on November 29, 2024, Netflix viewers who watched Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story are learning more about their 1990s trials. Both were presided over by Judge Stanley Weisberg. The possibility of a retrial for the Menendez brothers still looms, but their supporters are wondering where Weisberg is now and who could preside over their case if it goes to trial for the third time.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón announced that after evidence supporting the Menendez brothers‘ claims was accepted, the court has “a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us and make a determination based on a resentencing side, whether they deserve to be resentenced — even though they were clearly the murderers — because they have been in prison for years and they have paid back their dues to society.”
“If there was evidence that was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps a jury would have come to a different conclusion,” the DA added.
Hollywood Life has the details about the former judge who presided over Lyle and Erik’s case, below.
Erik and Lyle Menendez might have their case reevaluated based on the emergence of new evidence — and the decision would likely come by the end of this week, the Los Angeles district attorney said. ABC News’ Matt Gutman has the latest. pic.twitter.com/PUXQDaYKtf
— ABC News (@ABC) October 24, 2024
Who Is Stanley Weisberg?
Weisberg was a prosecutor and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. He was first appointed to the Superior Court in 1988. Among the most famous cases that Weisberg presided over were the sexual abuse allegations at McMartin Preschool, which ended in a mistrial in 1990, and the 1991 Rodney King case, which concluded with the acquittal of the Los Angeles Police Department officers accused of beating King. This resulted in the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
What Did Judge Weisberg Do During the Menendez Case?
In 1993, Weisberg was assigned as the judge over the Menendez brothers’ case. He presided over both of their 1990s trials, since the first one ended with a hung jury. Weisberg permitted cameras in the courtroom during the first trial, but not for the second one.
During Lyle and Erik’s second trial, Weisberg blocked all expert testimony in the defense’s “abuse excuse,” the Los Angeles Times reported, per SFGate.com. According to the outlet, Weisberg said that he was “not convinced” that there were legal grounds in the state of California to allow experts to testify that the Menendez brothers were “battered children.”
After the brothers were convicted of first-degree murder in 1996, Weisberg sentenced them to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Where Is Stanley Weisberg Now?
After retiring as a judge in 2008, Weisberg has kept a low profile. Since the Menendez brothers’ case was one of the most publicized trials, Weisberg was portrayed several times on TV and in films, such as on Saturday Night Live and Law & Order True Crime
Weisberg’s whereabouts are currently unknown.