A judge will decide on Monday whether new evidence warrants a re-examination of the convictions of Erik and Lyle Menendez in the murders of their parents in their Beverly Hills home more than 30 years ago.

The brothers were found guilty of first-degree murder in the killings of José and Kitty Menendez in 1989 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The defense said the brothers feared their parents were going to kill them to cover up years of sexual, psychological and physical abuse they had suffered. Prosecutors portrayed the brothers as greedy rich kids eager for their multimillion-dollar inheritance. They repeatedly appealed their convictions without success.

Now, at 53 and 56, the brothers are making a new bid for freedom. Their lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition – a request for a court to examine whether someone is being lawfully detained – in May 2023, asking a judge to consider new evidence of their father’s sexual abuse. “Newly discovered evidence directly supports the defense presented at trial,” the petition said.

And last month, Los Angeles prosecutors recommended resentencing for the brothers, saying they had worked on redemption and rehabilitation and demonstrated good behavior inside prison.

There is no question the brothers committed the killing, George Gascón, the Los Angeles district attorney, told CNN. “The question is to what degree of culpability should they be held accountable to, given the totality of the circumstance.”

Gascón asked for new sentences of 50 years to life, which would make them immediately eligible for parole because they were less than 26 years old when they killed their parents.

The superior court judge Michael Jesic is scheduled to consider the resentencing request on 11 December, but on Monday he will first address the abuse evidence raised in the habeas petition. Immediate freedom is one possible result; the judge also might weigh in on the merits of the evidence. And if the brothers do not get relief in court, they can hope California’s governor will grant them clemency.

The developments come as a a more sympathetic view of the brothers emerged in recent years due in part to viral TikTok videos that focused on their story of abuse. Numerous documentaries and TV shows, including the Netflix drama Monsters: Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and the documentary The Menendez Brothers in 2024, intensified public interest and pressure on district attorneys.

Among those asking to review the case was Kim Kardashian, who penned an essay calling for the brothers’ release, pointing to the allegations of abuse and the brothers’ behavior in prison. The brothers have earned college degrees, served as mentors and provided hospice care to elderly people in prison.

“I have spent time with Lyle and Erik; they are not monsters. They are kind, intelligent, and honest men,” Kardashian wrote.

The new evidence includes a letter Erik Menendez wrote in 1988 to his uncle Andy Cano, describing the sexual abuse he had endured from his father. The brothers asked their lawyers about it after it was mentioned in a 2015 Barbara Walters television special. The lawyers had not known of the letter and realized it had not been introduced at their trials, making it in effect new evidence that they say corroborates allegations that Erik was sexually abused by his father.

More new evidence emerged when Roy Rossello, a former member of the Latin pop group Menudo, recently came forward saying he had been drugged and raped by José Menendez, the boys’ father, when he was a teen in the 1980s. Menudo was signed under RCA Records, where José Menendez was chief operating officer.

Rossello spoke about his abuse in the Peacock docuseries Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed, and provided a signed declaration to the brothers’ lawyers.

Had these two pieces of evidence been available during the brothers’ trial, prosecutors would not have been able to argue that there was no corroboration of sexual abuse, or that José Menendez was not the “kind of man that would” abuse children, the petition argues.

While clemency might be another pathway to freedom for the brothers, last week Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said that he would not decide until the incoming Los Angeles district attorney, Nathan Hochman, who unseated Gascón in the 5 November election, reviews the case.

Hochman has said he wants to carefully look at the evidence before making any decisions.

Gascón has said his office was deeply divided on the case, with some prosecutors arguing the brothers should remain in prison and others advocating for their release.

Members of the public will be given the opportunity to win a seat in the courtroom to catch a glimpse of the brothers, who will be appearing virtually.