Family of Menendez brothers say graphic crime scene photos led to aunt being hospitalized

LOS ANGELES - Family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez have filed court papers alleging that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office needlessly showed a bloody crime scene photo without any advance notice during a court hearing last week.

What they're saying:

In a motion released Tuesday, an attorney representing nearly 20 family members wrote that the "entire District Attorney's Office, including District Attorney Nathan Hochman and Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, owe the victims' family members an apology for their scandalous behavior."

The family says the graphic crime scene photos were shown without any advance warning and it retraumatized family members who were in attendance.

The family also said Jose's sister, 85-year-old Terry Baralt, was hospitalized in critical condition shortly after court due to ‘severe emotional distress.’ 

In the motion, the family's attorney, Bryan J. Freedman, wrote that a "grotesque spectacle occurred" and asked the court to "ensure such a mockery never occurs again."

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"... The victims' family members were shocked, sickened, and traumatized by the District Attorney's callous act," Freedman wrote.

"Here, it is patently obvious that the district attorney treated the victims' family members as second-class victims, due to a policy disagreement between District Attorney Hochman and the victims' family members," Freedman added. "The district attorney represents all victims, not simply those that share the office's policy views."

The motion asks Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic to admonish the District Attorney's Office for its conduct and to require the district attorney to "provide the victims' family members with advance notice of any exhibits or other evidence it intends to introduce at any further post-conviction proceedings in this matter."

The other side:

The District Attorney's Office could not be reached for immediate comment on the motion, but said in a statement issued Sunday, "We never intend to cause distress or pain to individuals who attend a court hearing. We understand the nature of the evidence of these heinous double murders was deeply emotional. However, by design these hearings are intended to be a place where the truth, no matter how painful, is brought to light. That truth starts with the abject brutality and premeditation of the murders themselves. To the extent that the photographic depiction of this conduct upset any of the Menendez family members present in court, we apologize for not giving prior warning that the conduct would be described in detail not only in words but also through a crime scene photo ... We caution anyone attending a hearing in person to be prepared for some of the difficult details and images surrounding these tragic circumstances," the statement added.

The backstory:

A resentencing hearing for Erik and Lyle Menendez is set for Thursday, April 17 at the Van Nuys courthouse.

The brothers are serving life sentences for the 1989 killings of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

At the hearing last week, the judge rejected a bid by the District Attorney's Office to withdraw an earlier motion by prior District Attorney George Gascón supporting resentencing for the two. Hochman opposes the brothers' release from prison.

Attorneys for Erik and Lyle are hoping to have them resentenced to a lesser term, either allowing them to be released or become eligible for parole.

The two claim the killings were committed after years of abuse, including alleged sexual abuse by their father.

The brothers, sitting side by side in prison blues, appeared last Friday at the hearing via Zoom from the San Diego prison where they are incarcerated, but they did not make any statements.