Erik and Lyle Menendez are expected to appear in court Monday when a status conference is scheduled for the brothers who have been behind bars for 30 years in the shooting deaths of their parents at the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.

A status conference is scheduled for Monday morning at the Van Nuys courthouse, where the brothers should appear on a video feed of the San Diego Jail where they are serving life sentences for the shooting murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty, in 1989. This appearance will be their first together in a courtroom in decades.

The status conference was scheduled to provide the court with an update on what happens next in the brothers’ case, including where things stand with their brothers. possibility of a new conviction for the killings.

The brother was allowed to be present in the San Fernando Valley courtroom, but their lawyer said Erik, 53, and Lyle, 56, would be present in line.

“My office submitted forms so they wouldn’t have to be dragged here (to Los Angeles County) at taxpayer expense,” defense attorney Mark Geragos said.

There will be no cameras in the courtroom, but designers will provide drawings.

Status conferences typically involve basic administrative matters such as court and attorney scheduling, but the Menendez brothers’ case received new attention following Netflix’s release of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and a recommendation from Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón to have their sentences shortened. If a judge ultimately rules in favor of the outgoing prosecutor, who was defeated in the November election, the brothers could be eligible for immediate parole.

The Menendez brothers returned to court Monday, as did the artist from their second trial, Mona Shafer Edwards. Alex Rozier reports for NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on November 22, 2024.

They were 21 and 18 when they killed their parents in 1989.

The presence of key figures at the center of the high-profile Los Angeles case makes this status conference different from most others. Seats for the 10:30 a.m. PT hearing, which could be the first time the brothers have spoken publicly in years, were opened to the public through a lottery system.

Several people had already lined up early Monday to obtain the 16 tickets available thanks to the lottery.

“It’s called a status conference and usually at a status conference the judge says, ‘Well, thanks for coming. Get out your calendars,'” said NBCLA legal analyst Royal Oakes. “Sometimes the judge decides substantive issues. It is possible, although unlikely, that he will say, ‘I’ve read a lot about this case. I’m taking these brothers out right now.’ Unlikely.

“It would be more likely that the judge would say, ‘I’m not going to do it today, but I have to tell you… I’m inclined to release them. So whoever wants to keep them behind bars, you better to be persuasive.’ case.’ This would be the dream scenario for the Menendez brothers.”

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón recommended resentencing for Erik and Lyle Menendez just two weeks ago. Now, Gascón lost his re-election campaign and the city’s elected prosecutor, Nathan Hochman, may withdraw his request for resentencing.

The judge could also look at new evidence in the case, including a letter Erik Menendez wrote in 1988 to his uncle Andy Cano, describing sexual abuse by his father. New evidence emerged when Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, recently said he was drugged and raped by José Menendez when he was a teenager. Menudo was signed under RCA Records, where Jose Menendez was director of operations.

Both pieces of evidence were unavailable at the brothers’ trial, allowing prosecutors to argue there was no corroboration of sexual abuse.

The resentencing hearing, a legal path to the brothers’ release, is scheduled for Dec. 11. Geragos said the parties involved in Monday’s hearing will likely confirm or change the resentencing hearing date originally set before the Nov. 5 election.

“I sometimes call it housekeeping,” Geragos said of Monday’s hearing, “(We’ll discuss) ‘Are we meeting on the 11th?’ Do we have enough time? How many witnesses will decide?’

Gascón was removed from office in favor of Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and deputy United States attorney general. Hochman will likely request a delay in the resentencing case at the December hearing as he seeks to review the facts and evidence in the decades-old case, multiple sources close to the DA-elect told NBCLA.

The Menendez brothers’ case will be part of a second court proceeding Tuesday to discuss the 2023 petition for a writ of habeas corpus that claims their convictions and prison sentences are unconstitutional in light of what they have declared recently. evidence discovered of sexual abuse committed during childhood by their father. Tuesday is the deadline for the prosecutor to respond to the habeas petition.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said he would not consider a pardon until the prosecutor reviews the case.

Geragos said the brothers remain optimistic as the legal process unfolds around them.

“I actually talk to them quite often,” Geragos said. “The attitude is: It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions, to borrow a cliché. We’ve had all kinds of ups and downs.”