### Juror Reflects on Menendez Brothers' Case: Modern Understanding Could Change Outcome

A former juror from the Menendez brothers' trial believes that today's more informed and socially aware society might have led to a different verdict for Lyle and Erik Menendez. New evidence, which suggests that the brothers were sexually abused, is set to be reviewed three decades after they were convicted for the 1989 murder of their parents in their Beverly Hills home.

Hazel Thornton, who served as a juror during the Menendez brothers' first trial, expressed her views on NewsNation's "Banfield." Thornton noted that the increased awareness and understanding of issues related to abuse in today's world could significantly alter the trial's outcome if it were held now. "If they were tried again, I do think that the outcome would be very different because people know more these days, people understand more these days," she stated.

During their defense, the Menendez brothers argued they had acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse from their parents, José and Mary Louise "Kitty" Menendez. However, Thornton remarked that the claim did not resonate with the male jurors at the time. "The men did not believe that Jose had been abusing his sons," Thornton recalled, highlighting the gender divide in the jury's deliberations.

Adding to the trial's controversy, Prosecutor Lester Kuriyama speculated during his closing arguments that Erik Menendez was gay, a point Thornton indicated may have influenced the male jurors against accepting the abuse claims. "There was no evidence to back that up. It was just Lester's theory that he threw out in closing arguments," she explained. According to Thornton, the male jurors clung to this unsupported theory, further rejecting the possibility that the Menendez brothers had been abused.

Rather than seeking a new trial, Thornton hopes that a resentencing will suffice, citing the extensive costs and emotional toll another trial would incur. "I hope they are not tried again. I hope they are simply resentenced because I think a new trial would cost millions of dollars and wear everybody out for no good reason," she concluded.

The Menendez brothers were convicted in 1996, and their case continues to evoke strong opinions and discussions about the complexities of justice and abuse allegations.