after Months of delayand Eric and Lil Mindez It may be one step of learning if it will be free.
Each of the brothers spent more than three decades in prison for the 1989 Venice killings for their parents, and they were waiting since October to listen to a Public Prosecutor recommendation That life sentences be reduced without the possibility of conditional release to 50 years.
This recommendation, if it is approved by the outstanding judge in Los Angeles Michael Jessic after it is expected to be two days of listening sessions that start on Tuesday, it makes Eric, 54, who is 57 years old, is eligible for a conditional release immediately.
The forces stumbled from inside and outside the courtroom. These delays helped fuel a bitter discussion increasingly about a question in the heart of the criminal justice system: What should a first -class killing person do to show that he was rehabilitated?
George Jaskoun, a former Los Angeles province, recommended that the men believe that the brothers were exceptional prisoners. In an interview last year with “Dateline” In the court files, Gascón and his deputies referred to the college courses that the brothers have completed; To the “Beauty” project, the green area they created in southern California prison, where they are imprisoned; And the assistance they provided to guests with severe disabilities.
GASCón also referred to the state law that requires authorities to think about the age of prisoners when they committed their crimes. If they are younger than 26 years old – the age in which part of the brain is responsible for controlling behavior completely ripe – the California law imposes on prisoners a “useful opportunity for conditional release during their normal life.”
When the brothers shot Jose and Kitty Mindez on August 20, 1989, Mainndes was night in 21 years. Erik Minindies was 18.
Gascón’s position was Payed by some prominent celebrities The relatives of Jose and Kitty who continued to speak on behalf of the brothers.
“I know Lille and Eric,” said Anamaria Baralet, a cousin, outside the Los Angeles court last week. ))
But GASCón was voted in November, and his predecessor, Nathan Hoshman, took a completely different look from the case.
After seeking a delay in a resentment hearing, which was already scheduled in December, Hashman said he and his deputies spent months reviewing thousands of pages of experimental texts, prison records and other documents related to the case.
In March, Hoshman revealed He did not believe that Eric and Lil Mindeys assumed full responsibility for their crimes and moved to withdraw Jaskun’s recommendation. Provincial lawyer He was martyred in a list of 16 “uncomplicated lies” He said that the brothers had told them about the murders, including their claim that they killed their parents in self -defense. (Jesic denied Hochman’s attempt to withdraw.)
When the brothers were tried in the early 1990s, Lille witnessed that they had fired their parents killer after he faced his father about the abuse of Eric and Jose to threaten him.
Call a legal doctrine known as “incomplete self -defense”.
Public Prosecutors The killings were described as a cold seed – Lael re -uploaded his rifle before he shot his mother in the face – and he was financially motivated. The procedures ended with a wrong trial when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous judgment.
During their second trial, Lael refused to testify after the authorities condemned messages that showed him the encouragement of people to lie in order to defend, including a friend who claimed that she was sexually assaulted by his father, according to the decision of the Court of Appeal. The ruling issued by the California Supreme Court also prevented the brotherhood from demanding self -defense.
On March 20, 1996, they were convicted of first -class death.
In addition to their demand for self -defense, Hochman also included the apparent lyle deception that participates in his girlfriend, which includes 16 unrecognized lies. During a hearing last monthThe provincial lawyer, who is dealing with resentment, argued that the brothers have made a variety of excuses for their actions.
“What did you not hear once?” Public Prosecutor, Habib Balian, said. “We lied.”
Brotherhood lawyer, Mark Giragos, described Balian as a “dog and dowry” and accused him of rid the first trial.
This session was supposed to determine whether Eric and Laila Mindeys should be resentful. However, the procedures ended on the charge of Geragos of pursuing bias and saying that he would seek to remove the provincial lawyer from the case.
During a hearing last weekGerargos withdrew this proposal, and the general prosecutors pointed to a new development that they said supported their claim that the brothers were not adequately rehabilitated. Modern assessments conducted by psychologists found that the brothers pose a “moderate” danger to violence if they were released from prison.
Restrictions, known as comprehensive risk assessments, secret and were I was conducted as part of a separate compassion request The brothers made to the governor of California State Gavin News.
Speaking after last week’s session, Gerargos said that the violations of the assessments are not a kind of serious crime crime required to deny their discontent. He said that the allegations of prosecution have sought to “undermine what is 35 years of great work by the two brothers.”
If Jesic rejects dissatisfaction, the brothers still have two other paths to freedom – their request for compassion and A petition challenging their convictions It seeks a new trial.
