Menendez brothers: Family of Erik and Lyle Menendez speaks out at press conference in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES — Relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez, the brothers serving life sentences for killing their parents in Beverly Hills more than 35 years ago, will speak out as prosecutors review new evidence in the case.

Nearly two dozen family members will host a news conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday to pressure the district attorney to officially recommend a resentencing in the brothers’ case.

Earlier this month, LA County District Attorney George Gascón announced that his office would review new evidence and make a decision on whether a new conviction is warranted in the infamous case that captured national attention.

The new evidence presented in a petition includes a letter from Erik Menendez that his lawyers say corroborates allegations that he was sexually abused by his father.

The brothers have said they killed their parents in self-defense after suffering a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them. Their lawyers argue that because of society’s changing views on sexual abuse, the brothers may not have been convicted of first-degree murder today and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The brothers’ lawyers said the family believed from the start that they should have been charged with manslaughter instead of murder. Manslaughter was not an option for the jury during the second trial that ultimately led to the brothers’ murder conviction, Geragos said.

Lyle Menendez, who was 21 at the time, and Erik Menendez, then 18, admitted to fatally shooting their father Jose Menendez and their mother, Kitty Menendez, in 1989, but said they feared their parents were about to kill them. murder to prevent the murder. revelation of Erik’s long-term sexual molestation by the father.

Prosecutors argued at the time that there was no evidence of any abuse. They said the sons were after their parents’ multimillion-dollar estate.

Jurors rejected a death sentence in favor of life without parole.

The case has gained new attention after Netflix began streaming the true crime drama “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.”

Gascón said he believes the topic of sexual assault would have been handled more sensitively if the case had taken place today.

“We have not yet decided on an outcome. We are assessing the information,” Gascón said earlier this month.

He said his office was not aware of the “validity” of what was presented at trial.

Gascón, who is seeking re-election, noted that more than 300 people have been re-convicted during his term, and only four have re-offended.

A hearing was scheduled for November 29.

Lyle Menendez recently earned a sociology degree from the University of California, Irvine, through a prison program. Geragos said they were model prisoners despite believing they would never be released.

“I think it’s time,” Geragos said. “The family thinks it’s time.”

Reality TV star and celebrity personality Kim Kardashian, who has advocated for criminal justice reform, also joined in, writing in a personal essay shared with NBC News that the excessive media attention to the first nationally televised trial denied them justice denied.

She noted that “their suffering and stories of abuse were ridiculed in skits on ‘Saturday Night Live'” that they were portrayed as “two arrogant, rich kids from Beverly Hills who killed their parents out of greed. There was no room for empathy, let alone just sympathy.”

“Erik and Lyle had no chance of a fair trial against this backdrop,” Kardashian wrote.

The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.