LOS ANGELES : Jury Deliberations Move Slowly in Menendez Case
One jury took a three-day weekend and the other went home an hour early as deliberations in the Menendez brothers’ murder trial moved slowly Friday.
Lyle Menendez’s jury, due for a sixth day of deliberations, did not meet because a juror called in sick. Erik Menendez’s jury, deliberating for a second day, asked for a number of audiotaped exhibits. Included was a tape the brothers made Dec. 11, 1989, with their Beverly Hills therapist, L. Jerome Oziel, and a series of tapes of calls between Oziel and his ex-lover, Judalon Smyth.
The Erik Menendez jury was granted permission by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg to go home at 3:30 p.m. No reason was given.
Both juries are due to resume deliberations Monday. Two juries heard the case because some evidence was admissible against one brother only.
Lyle Menendez, 25, and Erik Menendez, 23, are charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 20, 1989, shotgun slayings of their parents, Jose Menendez, 45, a wealthy entertainment executive, and Kitty Menendez, 47.
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