Page 7 - Robert Rand News Today

Unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable nationwide network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and its only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business: powering possibilities. >> reporter: in 2005, after years of failed appeals, the menendez brothers case went to federal court. it was their last chance. the court denied it, maintaining the state court made reasona...

Ruled that the confession tape made by dr. oziel could not be presented as evidence. of course, the defense had already conceded that lyle and erik killed their parents. nearly four years after the murders. july, 1993. if convicted here, lyle and erik could face the death penalty. their judge was stanley weisberg. who had already presided over high profile cases, notably the rodney king beating case, whose result sparked the l.a. riots. judge weisberg ruled that each brother would have his own j...

About abuse in the first place. >> in between the two trials, there were allegations that he was asking people to fabricate testimony. letters surfaced after the first trial in which lyle was alleged to have encouraged people to lie for the defense. >> so the defense decided they couldnt put him on the witness stand, so erik menendez had to carry the ball for both brothers. and he was a good witness, but he was not as strong as lyle menendez had been at the first trial. >> reporter: and that exp...

>> reporter: those tumultuous deliberations carried on into the new year, and then -- a massive 6.7 earthquake shook southern california. the backdrop against which the juries would deliver a decision that shocked the world. coming up -- o.j. simpson? that explosive case is about to cast a shadow over this one. when "dateline" continues. when "dateline" continues. help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. feel the difference with downy. oh, marcos pepperoni magnifico. classic and old world pepp...

Showed adults engaging in sex acts in front of children. >> and we saw a few seconds of it, a few minutes. and we made excuses. a lot of us stood up and said, "we have to leave." we couldnt stand to see it, to watch it. >> reporter: but jose found this engaging. >> oh, hysterically funny. >> reporter: these stories of the menendez family had been buried for years, until the sons were charged with murder. and she signed on to defend them. veteran criminal defense attorney leslie abramson, known f...

>> reporter: but the defense said the brothers explosive claims were just the lead-up, the back story, to what really prompted the murders. >> what do you believe was the originating cause of you and your brother ultimately winding up shooting your parents? >> me telling lyle that uh -- >> you telling lyle what? was it you telling lyle that something was happening? >> my dad -- my dad had been molesting me. >> reporter: and had been right up until the murders, erik said, and he testified that hi...

Then a reporter for the miami herald, went to las vegas to cover a trade show for the home video business. and happened to meet jose menendez. >> what was your impression of the guy? >> talked to him for maybe two or three minutes. seemed professional, dynamic. >> a high powered career. a beautiful family. and finally the one missing piece of joses american dream -- the perfect home. jose moved his family from calabasas, then pre-kardashian and a relatively unknown enclave outside of los angeles...

>> reporter: the defense contended the abuse was real, went on for years. and finally -- >> they came to believe that something terrible was about to break loose. >> reporter: specifically, that their parents were going to kill them if they didnt kill their parents first. mental health experts testified and said that was understandable. >> erik and lyle menendez purchased the shotguns for their own protection. >> reporter: it was a high stakes defense. and by far the most important witnesses wou...

>> rand pulled out his tape recorder and notepad, but lyle stopped him. >> lyle menendez said, "hang on, " he said, "we dont wanna do the interview today. wed just like to meet you and get to know you." >> the brothers had flaked on rand before. he was annoyed, but obliged. they chatted informally. and made plans to meet later that weekend for an official interview. but when rand arrived -- >> lyle had left for new york on a red-eye the night before. he had a problem with his chicken wing restau...

>> reporter: the prosecution believed the brothers were flat out lying about the abuse, and the events leading up to the murders, and as it turned out their testimony gave the state a big opening. >> they offered their mental state as a defense. so when you offer your mental state as a defense you have waived your psychiatric patient privilege. >> reporter: the oziel tape. remember that? by testifying, the brothers had put their mental state on center stage meaning the tape was now fair game. th...