In four pages this paper examines the infamous 1989 murder case of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the privileged sons convicted of murdering their parents Jose and Kitty. Five sources are cited in the bibliography.
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the heinous crime due in great part to holes in their stories and their seeming indifference to the gruesome scene to which they led police on that fateful August day,
1989. Examining the case against the Menendez brothers, which required a second trial after the first was declared a mistrial, finds that what eventually came to pass was the
boys plea for insanity based upon the alleged psychological and sexual abuse they suffered at their parents hands while growing up in a world of wealth and privilege.
The actus reus (physical act) was particularly "horrifying and brutal" (Punishment) in the way in which Kitty and Jose Menendez were murdered, their bodies riddled
with bullets that hit various - and obviously nonfatal - areas so as to mimic a mob hit, with final blows to the head several times over. The mens
rea (evil intent) was undeniable by way of the brothers contempt for what they claimed was a life they lived in fear and degradation from what they allegedly experienced throughout
their respective childhood. As an act of revenge and/or self-defense, the mens rea in this case was presented as one of the most swaying elements of the trial in
relation to jury response and final verdict. Determining whether the formal charge was either murder or manslaughter was the reason for a mistrial the first time around; the final
result in the second trial found the boys guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The defense employed precisely what was expected:
The insanity plea. Claiming that the brothers were psychologically and sexually abused during childhood, the defense worked this angle as a means by which to illustrate how a lifetime
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