CAST SCATTERS; CURTAIN FALLS ON MENENDEZ TRIALS.Byline: Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writer They were all there for a last time Tuesday: the frizzy-haired defense lawyer, the bookishly handsome prosecutor, the fiancee in the spaghetti-strap minidress, the Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. cop and the chatty chat·ty adj. chat·ti·er, chat·ti·est 1. Inclined to chat; friendly and talkative. 2. Full of or in the style of light informal talk: a chatty letter. priest. With Lyle and Erik Menendez Joseph Lyle (Lyle) Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and brother Erik Galen (Erik) Menendez (born November 27, 1971) were convicted in a highly publicized trial for the shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, residents of Beverly Hills, California. heading to state prison for the rest of their lives, the cast of characters who were consumed by the high-profile murder trial left Judge Stanley Weisberg's courtroom ready to get on with their own lives. ``I'll miss them. They say they're going to disappear within the prison system forever,'' said a wistful Richie Berlin, daughter of the late Hearst Corp. publisher Richard E. Berlin and a Menendez trial junkie junkie Popular health A popular term for a person, usually an IV narcotic abusing addict, whose life is disorganized vis-á-vis family and societal structure, whose existence revolves around obtaining–often through theft, prostitution or other illicit since she first saw Lyle, 28, and Erik, 25, on Court TV several years ago. As Berlin spoke, TV news crews folded up their equipment and the briefcase-toting prosecutors and defense lawyers headed back to their offices. A smiling but subdued David P. Conn, the chief prosecutor at the brothers' second trial, was off for a battle with a new adversary - his boss, District Attorney Gil Garcetti Gilbert "Gil" Garcetti (b. August 5, 1941) served as Los Angeles County's 39th District Attorney for two terms, from 1992 until November 7, 2000. Background Gil Garcetti received a bachelor's degree in Management from the University of Southern California and a Juris . Conn has filed a grievance alleging that he was improperly denied overtime pay from the trial. He also has grumbled publicly about Garcetti's failure to promote him, even after he won a big one for his boss. Erik's longtime lawyer, Leslie Abramson Leslie Abramson (born c. 1944) is a famous American criminal defense attorney best known for her role in the legal defense of Lyle and Erik Menendez. In 2004, she was hired by Phil Spector, who is charged with fatally shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his suburban Alhambra mansion, , who said earlier that she might retire from the courtroom after the Menendez case, has a full plate. She's got another homicide trial on tap, a British Isles British Isles: see Great Britain; Ireland. vacation in September, and has just completed her memoirs, due out from Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. . Abramson also may have to deal with fallout from allegations during the trial that she ordered a defense witness to doctor his notes. But neither the state Bar of California nor Garcetti's office will say whether it is looking into the allegations, and Abramson denies wrongdoing wrong·do·er n. One who does wrong, especially morally or ethically. wrong  do . Erik's co-counsel, Barry Levin, is headed for a death penalty case in Riverside County, a triple homicide with DNA evidence Among the many new tools that science has provided for the analysis of forensic evidence is the powerful and controversial analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, the material that makes up the genetic code of most organisms. that's been dubbed ``OJ-1/2.'' Anna Eriksson, 30, Lyle's fiance, avoided television cameras as she left court Tuesday and went home to an uncertain future. Lyle and the striking blonde, who wore a sun dress and high-heel sandals to the sentencing, had hoped to marry earlier this week. But sheriff's officials scuttled the nuptials, and the wedding now is ``on hold,'' according to Abramson. Erik's friend and loyal supporter,Jeffrey Noodleman, is at work as a West Los Angeles
Noodleman left the courthouse fuming fuming /fum·ing/ (fum´ing) emitting a visible vapor. fum·ing adj. Producing or emitting smoke or vapor, as for certain concentrated nitric, sulfuric, and hydrochloric acids. Tuesday after he was shut out of the sentencing when seats ran out. The only relative at the sentencing was Teresita Baralt, Jose Menendez's sister and a devoted supporter of the brothers. Baralt, who collapsed in tears after the sentencing, heads back to Princeton, N.J., and the life of a travel agent, doting dote intr.v. dot·ed, dot·ing, dotes To show excessive fondness or love: parents who dote on their only child. [Middle English doten. grandmother and faithful aunt. Erik's and Lyle's priest and confidante con·fi·dante n. 1. A woman to whom secrets or private matters are disclosed. 2. A woman character in a drama or fiction, such as a trusted friend or servant, who serves as a device for revealing the inner thoughts or intentions , the Rev. Ken Deasy, is practicing Spanish for his new assignment - St. Agatha Church in South Central Los Angeles. The blond-haired, ruddy-faced Deasy said he promised the brothers that he would continue to provide them with spiritual guidance in prison. Leslie Zoeller, the police detective who has been with the case since the Aug. 20, 1989, murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez, is back on the streets in Beverly Hills and relieved to put the Menendez case behind him. His new assignment? Trying to crack a 1994 homicide. Several jurors came back to the courthouse Tuesday for one last look at Lyle and Erik. Even though the siblings are murderers, the brothers never will be far from their minds, they said. ``As I go through my life, I'll think about what they're going through,'' said Andrew Wolfberg, 26, an aspiring lawyer from Santa Monica who has said that he pities the brothers. The brothers may be out of sight in prison, but they won't be out of groupies' minds. Sarah Okumura, 32, a San Jose veterinary hospital manager, and faithful correspondent to Lyle and Erik, will continue writing the brothers. But, ``I don't have any expectations about them owing me eternal friendship or anything,'' she said. This being Los Angeles, the court watchers won't lack for exciting legal drama. Judith Spreckels, who didn't miss a day of either of the brothers' two trials, heads to the Joe Hunt case in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or next week. The Billionaire Boys Club “Billionaire Boys Club” redirects here. For other uses, see Billionaire Boys Club (disambiguation). The Billionaire Boys Club was the popular nickname for BBC, an investment and social club organized by Joseph Gamsky, also known as "Joe Hunt", in southern California leader is seeking a new trial in the slaying of con man Ron Levin. Robert Rand, the Miami journalist who has closely followed the case since the murders, is finishing up a Menendez family tome called ``Strange Sins.'' Abramson may not have been able to win the case for her client, but the feisty lawyer and the brothers are friends for life, she said. ``I will never sever my relationship with Erik Menendez or Lyle Menendez or their family,'' Abramson said. ``We are now a large extended family. The legal part is over but the human part is not.'' CHRONOLOGY Here is a look at key events that shaped the murder trials of Lyle and Erik Menendez. 1989 Aug. 20: Jose and Kitty Menendez are shot to death in the den of their Beverly Hills mansion. Lyle Menendez, in an emotional 911 call to police, sobs: ``Somebody killed my parents.'' 1990 March: Brothers Lyle, 22, and Erik, 19, are arrested on suspicion of murder. 1992 August: The California Supreme Court rules that prosecutors may seek to admit as evidence the brothers' taped confession to their psychotherapist psy·cho·ther·a·pist n. An individual, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse, or psychiatric social worker, who practices psychotherapy. , Dr. L. Jerome Oziel. December: The Los Angeles County grand jury indicts the brothers, who plead not guilty. 1993 January: Prosecutors announce they will seek the death penalty. May: Lawyers file court papers shedding light on the brothers' defense: That they were victims of child abuse. June: Two juries are impaneled to consider evidence separately against the brothers. July: Opening statements. September: Lyle testifies tearfully that his mother and father sexually abused him during childhood. Erik testifies about 12 years of sexual abuse by his father. December: The juries begin deliberations. 1994 January: The juries deadlock and mistrials are declared. 1995 August: Jury selection starts for the second trial. One jury is impaneled. October: Opening statements. New prosecutors, David P. Conn and Carol J. Najera, emphasize the carnage of the crime scene. Defense lawyers claim that Erik suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental disorder that follows an occurrence of extreme psychological stress, such as that encountered in war or resulting from violence, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, or serious accident. as a result of a lifetime of abuse. December: Erik begins 15 days on the witness stand. He insists he didn't know what he was doing when he killed his parents. 1996 February: Judge Stanley Weisberg throws out the brothers' self-defense argument and limits the heat-of-passion defense to the father's slaying, effectively limiting verdicts in the mother's slaying to murder or acquittal. March 1: The case goes to the jury. March 14: Two jurors are dismissed for illness and the jury begins deliberations anew. March 20: Jurors convict the brothers of first-degree murder in the shotgun slayings of their parents. April 17: After the trial's penalty phase, jurors spare the brothers' lives and recommend life prison terms. Tuesday: Lyle, 28, and Erik, 26, are sentenced to life prison terms without the possibility of parole. Source: Daily News research CAPTION(S): Photo, box PHOTO Leslie Abramson Memoirs due in September BOX: CH RONOLOGY (see text) |
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