Prosecutors show that an elderly aunt of Lyle and Erik Menendez is in intensive care Graphic crime scene images According to a family spokesman, at the brothers’ hearing.
The Justice of Erik and Lyle Coalition, a family-led initiative that advocates the release of the brothers, called for immediate responsibility and oversight after the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office made a “disturbing and reckless decision” at a court hearing Friday that sent 85-year-old Terry Baralt to the hospital.
“We are frustrated that Terry Baralt has been hospitalized and his cruel and careless behavior in court in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office is in critical condition,” a statement from the family said. “No physical pain prevents her from staying there for her nephew.
Jose Menendez’s sister Baralt is battling colon cancer but travels to Los Angeles from her home in New Jersey to support her nephew at a hearing, and the family says she was forced to witness graphic images, including the body of her brother.
Los Angeles DA puts Menendez brothers grand slam before fighting sentence reduction
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s families and supporters stood outside the court after hearings in the brotherhood in Los Angeles on Friday, April 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (Associated Press)
“The prosecutor chose to show Jose’s body before us, his surviving family.
A family spokesperson shared with Fox News Digital that Baralt is still in critical condition at a Los Angeles hospital.
The Menendez family also called on the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to evacuate the case after displaying graphic images, saying their use of the photos violated California’s Marcy’s Law, noting that they noted that “victims guarantee the victim’s rights to be fair, respects their privacy and respect, and is free in threatening, harassing and criminal offenses and frees throughout the criminal.”
“It’s not only cruel. It’s obviously a violation of our rights,” the family wrote. “The display is reflective and totally avoidable, and we think it’s intentional. The District Attorney’s Office knows what the law needs and deliberately chooses to ignore it. We are fully responsible for the deep pain they are suffering now. We are shocked and heartbroken. We feel speechless.”
Erik and Lyle Menendez’s aunt Joan Vandermolen held a hearing on Monday, November 25, 2024 at Van Nuys Courthouse in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The office of Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman shared a statement with Fox News Digital, saying prosecutors had no intention of “causing pain or pain” in order to attend the hearing.
“To some extent, photographic descriptions of this behavior have frustrated any member of the Menendez family in court, and we apologize for the absence of warnings beforehand, which will be described in detail not only in text but also through photographs of the crime scene,” Hochman’s office wrote.
The Hockman office also explained that the Menendez Brothers decided to file a habeas protection petition in 2023, while the leniency and resentment request in 2024 “certainly triggers the emotions of all those involved in it that lasted for more than 18 years. ”
“We never intend to cause trouble or pain to the individuals attending court hearings,” the Hockman office said. “It is a deep emotion to understand the nature of these outrageous double murder evidence. But by design, these hearings are a place that, however painful, reveals the truth. Truth begins with mean barbarity and prophecy of the murder itself.”
California Government News Agency sets Menendez Brothers Parole Board Hearing in Bid Wide Large
At the hearing on November 26, 1990, Lyle and Left sat in Beverly Hills City Court with defense attorney Leslie Abramson. (AP Photo/Nick UT)
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic won the Menendez Brothers at a hearing Friday, deciding not to withdraw their new trial petition.
The decision comes March 10, District Attorney Nathan Hochman told reporters that he is seeking to withdraw a motion to file a lawsuit hearing by former District Attorney George Gascon, who filed a lawsuit a few days before he lost his reelection.
Jesus said the indignation lawsuit will continue from April 17 to 18.
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The Menendez brothers and their supporters have been urging a resentment hearing, saying the brothers were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 for murdering their two parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. Beverly Hills returned home in 1989.
Since then, both Lyle and Erik Menendez have come forward in the documentary and claim on social media that their father sexually abused them, providing a Different narratives of murder More stories than their lawyers told in the 1990s.
Menendez brothers’ resentment: What will happen next?
Tammi Menendez, Erik Menendez’s wife and Erik Menendez’s stepdaughter were walking near Van Nuys Courthouse West, and at the hearing, the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez was about whether to reconsider whether to reconsider whether to reconsider whether to reconsider the first-degree conviction of the Menendez Brothers in California, California, we are California, California, us, November 25, 2014, United States November 25, 2024, November 25, 2024. (Reuters/Daniel Cole)
Hawkman before Tell ABC News He will consider his attitude towards the two brothers “really and explicitly acknowledge that this is the first criminal activity in more than 30 years and all the lies they have told.”
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The District Attorney wrote in the motion that he believed the Menendes brothers “repeatedly lie about the case, their parents and their interactions with witnesses.”
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Deputy District Attorney Habib Bailan addressed the court on Friday, April 11, 2025, a photo of the Menandes family displayed on the screen of the Van Nuisi Superior Court in California. (Bill Robles)
Their first trial ended in a crime, when jurors were unable to reach a consensus on their own destiny. After a second trial in the mid-1990s, some evidence from them So-called sexual abuse Excluded, the juror agreed that the prosecutor’s motive was greedy.
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If the judge decides to feel resentful to the Menendez brothers, it will be considered for release by the state parole board.
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They are already planning to appear in court on June 13 as part of a comprehensive risk assessment report ordered by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is considering the brothers’ wide large request, a separate potential path.
Michael Ruiz and Audrey Conklin of Fox News Digital contributed to the report.
Stepheny Price is a writer at Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, state crime cases, illegal immigration and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com
