Marcia Clark isn’t sure the Menendez brothers should be released

A famous prosecutor Marcia Clark remains divided whether Eric and Lyle Menendez they deserve to be released from prison.

“I’ve bounced back and forth on this so many times because I don’t know the case,” Clark, 71, who has been thrust into the spotlight during the OJ Simpson murder trialsaid on the Monday, December 2 episode of Today show. “It was up in the air (the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office when I worked there), but I wasn’t involved in it. So I don’t really know anything more than society so I can’t say what I think should happen.

After practicing law for decades, Clark takes a look both sides of the argument.

“Sometimes I think, ‘Hey, these spoiled rich kids killed their parents with a shotgun.’ I understand you thought you were in danger with your father – but I’m not sure I buy into that,” she noted. “On the other hand, I think they might (have been in danger). If they did, then they deserve to be convicted of manslaughter.

Related: Can the Menendez brothers be released from prison? The appeals process is explained

The murder case of Eric and Lyle Menendez was brought back into the spotlight with Ryan Murphy’s “Monsters” — and now there’s a chance their lives without parole sentences will be reduced. The Menendez brothers’ parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, were found dead in their Beverly Hills home in 1989. After Lyle called the police, they (…)

Eric, 53, and Lyle, 55, were arrested in 1990. on two charges of first degree murder after his parents, Kitty and Jose Menendezwere found shot in their home. The siblings later confessed to killing their parents after years of alleged physical, emotional and sexual abuse. They were eventually found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1996. after two noisy trials.

While their previous attempts to appeal the decision were rejected, recent high-profile television projects such as for example Monsters, The Menendez Brothers and more they have apparently offered Eric and Lyle a chance at liberty. In October, the Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon recommended that a judge sentence Eric and Lyle to 50 years, which could make them eligible for parole and release from prison.

“I don’t think it’s bad to look back on cases. I don’t. Because every case — at the time it’s being tried — is affected in some way by what’s going on with us as a society and our understanding of the issues maybe related to that case,” Clark said Monday. “Especially when it comes to child abuse. So we offer a more complex view of what’s going on. That’s a good thing.”

Clarke continued: “It brings us balance and probably makes an argument for doing it as much as possible. That doesn’t necessarily mean you change the outcome, and it doesn’t necessarily mean the Menendez brothers will be released. But now we look at it with different eyes. No question.”

According to Clarke, cases like Menendez’s are “more of a puzzle” compared to her work on the Simpson trial because it “gives you more” to think about.

In 1994 Simpson is listed as the prime suspect after his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were fatally stabbed outside her Los Angeles home a year ago.

Simpson was the bottom line acquitted of murder in 1995 after a high-profile criminal trial, but was later found responsible for the deaths of Brown Simpson and Goldman after their families sued him in a civil suit. The former athlete died of prostate cancer aged 76 in April.

During their individual legal troubles in the 1990s, Simpson and the Menendez brothers crossed paths at the Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail. Robert RandBook of 2018 The Menendez murders revealed that Eric offered advice to Simpson about his legal strategy and dealing with the massive media coverage of his trial. Lyle also communicated with Simpson and allegedly advised the athlete to plead guilty in order to accept a deal.

Related: Inside the Menendez Brothers story with OJ Simpson after the Monsters scene.

Getty Images (3) Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monsters’ series showed Eric Menendez giving legal advice to OJ Simpson in prison – but do they actually know each other? During the penultimate episode, which aired on Thursday, September 19, Eric was seen watching a report on the Simpsons’ infamous Bronco chase. Simpson was eventually apprehended and taken to the same (…)

“I told him I thought the public would understand,” Lyle told Rand in an interview. “I expressed my concern that (attorney) Robert Shapiro she wouldn’t let him tell the truth. I said I knew it was obviously not planned and that he snapped in the heat of passion.

Eric later said he thought Simpson’s verdict had a ‘very negative effect’ in their case, sharing in The Menendez Murders: Eric Tells All“Because this verdict was so shocking, there was a sense that an extreme injustice had been done and we will now have to put it right with every defendant who comes forward. We were the next defendants.