Kim Kardashian Says It's Time the Menendez Brothers Are Released From Prison
Kim Kardashian Says It's Time the Menendez Brothers Are Released From Prison
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00I was inspired to go to law school and really further my education to see what I can do
00:07to help.
00:08Kim Kardashian using that education to help the Menendez brothers.
00:13The reality star continuing her criminal justice reform work, advocating for Lyle and Eric
00:18Menendez's release from prison in a personal essay shared with NBC News.
00:23Saying she spent time with the siblings and quote, they are not monsters.
00:28You know where I'm at in my life now, if I can influence people in other ways and just
00:33to take something that's close to their heart and use their platform to speak up, that's
00:38what's really important to me.
00:40In her lengthy letter, Kim adds that who they are today in their 50s is not who they were
00:44at 18 and 21 years old, when they killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
00:51And she believes their claims of years-long sexual abuse at the hands of their father
00:55wasn't fairly taken into account during their 1996 trials.
01:00Which is something a Los Angeles District Attorney revealed on Thursday could help grant
01:05the brothers a resentencing.
01:07Right now, they're serving life without parole.
01:09What we're here to tell you is that we have a moral and an ethical obligation to review
01:18what has been presented to us and make a determination based on the resentencing side, whether they
01:27deserve to be resentenced, they've been in prison for 35 years and they have paid back
01:32their dues to society, or whether behavior is appropriate, if there was evidence that
01:38was not presented to the court at that time, and had that evidence been presented, perhaps
01:45a jury would have come to a different conclusion.
01:47The decades-old case being thrust back in the spotlight, not only by Kim K and courts,
01:53but thanks in part due to Netflix's Monster series, which takes a look at the Menendez's
01:57dysfunctional family life, and what may have led up to the brothers' decision to kill their parents.
02:03Okay, you have to shoot first so that you don't back out.
02:06What?
02:10Okay.
02:13I love you, Eric.
02:16I love you.
02:17As for Kim, she's been vocal about her hopes to make a change when it comes to justice.
02:22I'm really motivated to get to know the law more and fight for people that deserve a second chance.
02:28Especially on her family's reality shows, even visiting prisons on camera.
02:33Thank you for having us.
02:35Nice to meet you.
02:37One of her most recent un-televised stops was to see the Menendez brothers with non-profit
02:41criminal justice advocate Scott Budnick, who gave E.T. some insight into that visit.
02:47Kim and I, we've done multiple prison visits together.
02:50We were planning to go to Donovan Prison to meet with a group of 40 guys.
02:54The Menendez brothers just happened to be two of the 40.
02:56How this woman finds time to give back, to want to inspire people, to bring hope, to
03:03visit prisons.
03:04I think the fact that we can have Kim Kardashian and her platform amplify that is incredible.
03:09And someone else who joined them, Cooper Kotch, who played Eric on the show.
03:13I had to keep trying just to change the lives that we were living and I knew at some point
03:25that I was going to be willing to do anything just to make it all stop.
03:32Kim and Cooper had just met a few days before and she invited him on the trip obviously
03:37because she knew that in this group of guys, the Menendez's would be there.
03:42And it was a very, I would say, inspiring, incredible moment to watch the two of them
03:51interact.
03:53They embraced each other.
03:54They gave each other a hug.
03:55You could tell it was just a great conversation.
03:56I wasn't privy to it, but you could tell that they were really happy talking to each other.
04:01A hearing has been set for November 29th to re-evaluate the evidence in the brothers case
04:06and if they deserve a re-sentencing.