Menendez Trial Testimony Nears End

With testimony finally nearing an end, jurors in the Menendez brothers’ murder trial should expect to begin deliberations by mid-December, the judge in the case said Wednesday.

Closing arguments will be made separately to the two juries in the trial, one for each brother, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg said.

Lyle Menendez, 25, and Erik Menendez, 22, admit the Aug. 20, 1989, shotgun slayings of their parents, Jose Menendez, 45, a wealthy entertainment executive, and Kitty Menendez, 47. The brothers testified that they killed in fear and self-defense. Prosecutors, contending that the brothers killed out of hatred and greed, have charged them with first-degree murder and are seeking the death penalty.

One of Erik Menendez’s jurors piped up Wednesday with a question suggesting there could well be consideration of a first-degree conviction: “Should the penalty (phase) deliberations be required, will there be a waiting period between the verdict and the start time of the penalty phase?”

A few days, Weisberg answered, adding: “The fact that we discuss that phase of the trial should not in any way suggest we’ll ever get there.”

The brothers have been held without bail since their arrests in March, 1990, and Erik Menendez will spend his 23rd birthday Saturday behind bars.