Relatives and experts in the Menendez case support the brothers' release

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez called for their release Wednesday, more than 30 years after the men killed their parents.

In a news conference, members of both sides of the family called on the Los Angeles district attorney for their release.

The Menendez brothers are incarcerated at the Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County.

The news conference comes less than two weeks after the Los Angeles district attorney's initial announcement that he would consider new evidence in the case.

On the day of this announcement, in early October, ABC 10News reporter Laura Acevedo spoke with Dr. Ann Burgess, an expert witness who testified in defense of the brothers during their first trials.

The first time, the men were tried separately, which ended in a hung jury.

Dr. Ann Burgess is a psychiatric nurse and forensic expert. She spent hours interviewing the men in the 1990s and always believed their claims of sexual abuse by her father, Jose.

Dr. Burgess believes there was a lot of stigma attached to these abuse allegations during this time.

“It was and is up to men to believe that men can be raped and, secondly, that it can be an incest-like situation,” says Dr. Burgess on how sexual assault was viewed in the 1990s compared to today.

The issue of abuse was not addressed in the men's second trial, which ended in their conviction. Burgess says she never accepted prosecutors' allegations that the brothers killed their parents for money.

“I handle as many cases as I can, and especially whether it involves incest, family secrets, etc. It had to be something in the family; you had to have a dysfunctional family,” Burgess says.

On Wednesday, Menendez's family members agreed, saying they believe the men were also victims, citing alleged abuse by their father.

A hearing on the future of the brothers' sentences is scheduled for late November.