L.A. County D.A. Says Erik and Lyle Menendez Don't Deserve a New Trial | TMZ Live - video Dailymotion

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The Menendez Brothers got a thumbs down from the L.A. County D.A. when it comes to getting a new trial based on new evidence.

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00:00Eric and Lyle Menendez and their first interview together in decades.

00:05They've never done an interview together before.

00:07They weren't even together until a few years ago.

00:10So this interview that you and Mark Geragos did on your podcast, Two Angry Men,

00:15obviously Mark Geragos is representing them in their efforts to get out of prison at this hearing next month.

00:23So they are clearly thinking about what happens if they get out

00:29and what they want to do with their lives and laid out a lot of this for you guys.

00:35And it has to do with a lot of the things that they've been doing in prison,

00:40which clearly they have, Mark Geragos has already said, this is part of the reason they believe they should be released because

00:48They're rehabilitated.

00:50Completely rehabilitated based on the amount of things they've accomplished during their 30 plus years in prison.

00:58Arguably more than a lot of people do out of prison.

01:02So we talked to them about this and again, to me the big thing is this,

01:06that when you get life without possibility of parole and you exhaust your appeals,

01:11you're basically coming out of there in a body bag when you die.

01:16And do you have the incentive to better yourself?

01:22To do good things?

01:24I don't know that I would do what they did, but we got into it.

01:29You guys have done things in that prison that really kind of, for me,

01:35kind of shocked me that it's trying to make your life productive.

01:39How do you do that?

01:41Well, that was a journey.

01:43So I didn't start out with that mindset, helping others go through that journey

01:49and realize that they're not flawed and defective just because of the traumas of their childhood.

01:54It's frankly something that is extremely rewarding.

01:58It's what I want to do for the rest of my life.

02:00And that's what gives me hope.

02:03I started a hospice program right near a life care hospice where we talk about growing older,

02:10the struggles that you have in dealing with disability and with life limiting illnesses.

02:16I want to and fully intend to be working with that community,

02:20and I want to continue the ABP program, the Alternative to Violence program that we're doing in here.

02:27I want to do that out there.

02:29But the primary focus for me is the childhood trauma community.

02:33I want to be an advocate for people that are suffering in silence.

02:38Yeah, I mean, they want to continue what they're doing inside whether they get out or not.

02:45But if they get out, if you listen to the full podcast, you will hear, you know,

02:51Eric is so passionate about the childhood trauma part, and Lyle, too.

02:56But these two are different people from the people I covered during that trial.

03:01I have to say, like, some of those programs, even I had never even thought about,

03:06obviously I'm not in prison, so I'm not even thinking about this,

03:08that there are people who are aging and either have illnesses or just getting closer to the end of life.

03:16Right.

03:17And don't have relatives there, and so having a hospice program for them.

03:23Is more important than a hospice program outside where at least you have relatives and doctors around?

03:29I don't know if I'd say it's more important.

03:31I'd say more important because it's the only thing you've got, is what I'm saying.

03:34At least you have family on the outside.

03:36Sometimes.

03:37Sometimes.

03:38There's also real effort.

03:39I think they were really talking about an effort to just make prison life less insufferable for a lot of people,

03:44many of whom are going to get, the vast majority of whom are going to get out.

03:48Green spaces, getting rid of just the concrete jungle that defines most prison spaces

03:53to make it something more communal.

03:55And I know that a lot of people react negatively.

03:57They say, if you're in prison, you deserve all the punishment you're going to get.

03:59But we're relying on these people to come out and be better members of society in the vast majority of cases.

04:05Let's try and do the little things that can accomplish that.

04:08Sage from Long Island, New York.

04:10I totally agree.

04:11I see them doing so many amazing things in that community in jail.

04:15And I see that they want to bring it outside.

04:17So I'm very excited to see what they do if they were to get out.

04:21They prove themselves constantly with just all the things that they're doing in the prison,

04:25how they want to better people, better themselves, help the children that have gone through what they're going through.

04:31And overall, I'm just so excited and just proud that they are so positive in such a tough time.

04:37And it just proves that in a tough situation, people can come out on top and just grow stronger.

04:41Yeah, I agree with you.

04:43I think it will be interesting to see how much—I think their record, their track record in prison is clear.

04:49What I'm not clear on is how much weight the judge is going to give that in making this decision.

04:55Well, that's supposed to be what the judge considers.

04:57Well, the bigger thing here is—

04:59It's not about the murder.

05:00You don't consider that.

05:01I'm not saying it's the murder, but it's re-sentencing, right?

05:03It's re-sentencing.

05:05And the re-sentencing is based on whether or not the evidence, the new evidence, is taken into consideration.

05:11They take the new evidence into consideration, but the big thing is,

05:15have they been rehabilitated in light of the new evidence, and are they a threat to society?

05:23The only reason I think that the new evidence has to be—

05:26It's a factor.

05:28Otherwise, anybody, regardless of what your sentence is, would be like, well—

05:32It's totally a factor.

05:33If you reach the threshold, the issue isn't they killed their parents.

05:38The issue is, are they rehabilitated, and are they a danger to society?

L.A. County D.A. Says Erik and Lyle Menendez Don't Deserve a New Trial | TMZ Live

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