The case has been much discussed in the USA since the brothers in 1989 in Beverly Hills murdered their parents. The crime gained new relevance with a dramatization and a documentary about the Menendez family, both of which were released on Netflix this year.
Thursday's announcement from prosecutor George Gascón in Los Angeles does not mean that a new trial will begin, but that a judge will review potential new evidence and then decide whether the brothers should receive a reduced sentence, get a new trial, or be completely released, writes ABC News.
The new development in the case is, among other things, a letter Erik Menendez wrote eight months before the murders, in which he described how his father abused him. Additionally, a musician has testified that the father also abused him.
Both brothers have admitted to murdering their parents after a childhood filled with sexual abuse by their father, while their mother knew but never intervened.
The two were 18 and 21 years old, respectively, when the murders were committed.
Around 30 relatives have demanded that the brothers receive a reduced sentence. Their aunt Joan Andersen Vandermolen says, according to ABC News, that she "had no idea how much abuse they suffered".
It's time to give them the opportunity to live the rest of their lives free from the shadow of the past, she says.
