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(Court TV) -- Developments in the retrial of Lyle and Erik Menendez from December 18-22, 1995
DECEMBER 18
Prosecutor David Conn did what prosecutors in the first trial of Lyle and Erik Menendez refused to do -- he challenged Erik's allegations that his father molested him.
Conn went so far as to challenge Erik about small details, such as why a Vaseline jar was left in his room. Erik said his father used it for sex. Conn suggested that Erik might have used it for blisters he got on his hands from playing tennis.
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Conn attacked Erik's claims that his father forced sex on him even at age 18, when Erik had a car and plenty of money to escape. He even asked Erik why he did not join the military and "let your father take on the U.S. Army." Erik said the Army would not have been enough to protect him from his father, who was the "most powerful man I've ever met." He said his father, who feared that his sons would expose him as a child molester, would have spent his last cent tracking him down if he had run away.
At one point, Erik conceded that there were no living eyewitnesses to the sexual abuse, which he earlier testified occurred from age 6 until days before the slayings.
The day also was highlighted by Erik's revelation that he had visions of killing his father just three months before the August 20, 1989, slayings of Jose and Kitty Menendez. He said he started to wish his father was dead when he was 13 years old. And in 1988, he said he wished his mother would kill her husband with a new rifle she had purchased.
Prosecutors contend Erik's statements are evidence of premeditation. But defense lawyers say his truthfulness is typical of an abused person and shows jurors that he has nothing to hide.
Later, Conn raised the issue of Erik's sexual orientation. Conn suggested that Erik exaggerated his involvement with women to hide his true sexuality. Conn asked Erik if his parents ever questioned his sexuality. Erik said they did.
Outside of court, Conn said he wanted to show that Erik's sexuality was a source of tension in the family.
DECEMBER 19
Prosecutor David Conn asked Erik Menendez why he didn't consider several alternatives to killing his parents, if he were truly scared of them.
Why didn't you leave home, go to the police, or join the military and "let your father take on the U.S. Army," Conn asked.
Erik insisted that the army would never impede his father, Jose Menendez, a show business executive.
Conn tried to show that Erik's testimony was rife with inconsistencies and suggested several times that he was trying to win sympathy with the jury by portraying himself as a child.
Conn asked Erik why he left his brother with his parents on the day Lyle confronted his father about the sex abuse. When that incident allegedly occurred, Conn pointed out, less than a week before the murders, the brothers claimed they were in fear for their lives. But it wasn't until a later point that they armed themselves.
Court was only in session for half a day to allow a juror to make a medical appointment.
DECEMBER 20
Prosecutor David Conn continued to challenge Erik Menendez on every detail of the events during the week before the killings.
Conn repeatedly asked why Erik and his brother did not leave their parents. Erik responded that Jose Menendez was a powerful man who would be able to find his sons wherever they went. Conn suggested through his questions that anyone in their right mind would have seriously considered running away or going to the police.
Defense lawyers claim that the brothers' fears were normal reactions for people who have been battered all their lives. The brothers claim that only after shooting their parents did they realize the couple had not intended to kill them.
Erik also testified that he often imagined many ways in which his parents might kill him - shooting him with a gun equipped with a silencer, stabbing him, or faking that he was slain by burglars. He said he was sure his father would kill him and avoid being arrested for murder.
The testimony came as Conn questioned Erik about the brothers' claims that they shot their parents because they feared that the couple was going to kill them to stop them from exposing the father as a child molester.
"Did you turn to your brother and say, 'This is ridiculous. Our parents can't do this and get away with it?' " Conn asked.
"No," Erik said. "My father could do anything."
During his testimony, Erik has portrayed Jose Menendez as an all-powerful figure who sexually abused him for 12 years and inflicted psychological torture on him all his life. He said his mother also physically abused him. He called her "my dad's enforcer" because she meted out punishment to her children.
DECEMBER 21
Prosecutor David Conn challenged Erik Menendez's claims that he was not aware of what he was doing even as he shot his parents to death.
Conn tried to show jurors that Erik, 25, and his brother Lyle, 27, planned the slayings days in advance, and knew exactly what they were doing when they flung open the den doors and fired nearly a dozen rounds of buckshot and birdshot into their parents on August 20, 1989.
"You wouldn't know. You weren't there. I was there. I'm telling you what happened," Erik said, in response to Conn's assertions. "I was just so rushed and panicked, I didn't even think about (it)."
The brothers claim they were in a heightened state of fear, after years of abuse, and shot in a blind panic.
Meanwhile, Judge Stanley Weisberg ruled that Erik must submit to a psychological examination by Dr. Park Dietz. Dietz is expected to be a key rebuttal witness for the prosecution.
Since Erik has "tendered his mental state" as part of his defense, the judge ruled he is subject to examination by the state's expert. Judge Weisberg denied defense requests to be present during the examination and to have its own experts attend the session.
DECEMBER 22
The court was in recess. E-mail to a friend
