Sawt Falasteen - Menendez brothers' bid for freedom delayed until January

The pair have been in prison since a blockbuster trial in the 1990s that became almost compulsory viewing for millions of Americans.

Television audiences were riveted by the gruesome details of the slayings of Jose and Kitty Menendez at the family's luxury Beverly Hills mansion.

The two men, who have spent more than three decades behind bars, had been due to appear by videolink at a hearing in Los Angeles, their first court appearance in 28 years as a campaign to set them free gathers pace.

But technical difficulties scuppered the appearance and the hearing was pushed back to the end of January.

Nevertheless, Judge Michael Jesic called the two men's elderly aunts to the stand to hear them plead for the brothers to be freed.

"I would like to be able to hug them and see them," Jose Menendez's older sister Terry Baralt, 85, said.

"I would like them to come home."

Kitty's sister, Joan Vander Molen, echoed that.

"No child should go through what Erik and Lyle went through," she said.

"They never knew if tonight will be the night when they would be raped."

Prosecutors painted the crime as a cold-hearted bid by the then-young men -- Lyle was 21 and Erik was 18 -- to get their hands on their parents' $14 million fortune.

But their attorneys described the 1989 killings as an act of desperate self-defense by young men subjected to years of sexual abuse and psychological violence at the hands of an abusive father and a complicit mother.

The case saw a huge surge of renewed interest this year with the release of the Netflix hit "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story."

The hearing comes after a campaign to secure their release, supported by Kim Kardashian and other celebrities.

"Set them free before the Holidays!" wrote Tammi Menendez, Erik's wife, on social media last week.

Public interest was such that the court held a lottery for the 16 seats in the public gallery.

Nick Bonanno, a former high school classmate of Erik's, was the first to arrive at the court, taking his place at the head of the line at 4:30 am (1230 GMT).

"I wanted to show support to... Eric and Lyle," he told AFP ahead of the hearing.

"It's all about supporting and healing, not just for the families, but for us as a culture."

Elena Gordon, 43, said she wanted "to witness a part of our local history."

- 'It's really awesome' -

The hearing was intended as a starting point for lawyers working on three routes to free Erik Menendez, 53, and Lyle Menendez, 56.

Attorney Mark Geragos has filed a writ of habeas corpus, an attempt to effectively vacate the brothers' first-degree murder conviction, which could free the brothers immediately.

Another route is an effort to get the men re-sentenced on the same conviction, which would open the way for them to request parole.

Finally, Geragos has submitted a clemency request to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Journalist Robert Rand, who wrote a book about the case, and who is in regular touch with the brothers, said the family was optimistic.

But, he said, no one was expecting any quick fixes.

"They're hopeful," he said. "They don't know what's going to happen.

"I believe this could take much longer than was originally anticipated. It could be six months, could be eight months, could be a year, but eventually they will get out."

With excitement over the case near fever pitch, tourists are regularly making pilgrimages to the Beverly Hills home where the killings took place.

Australian Christian Hannah, who was born almost two decades after the double murders, made sure the home was a stop on his tour of celebrity hotspots, because of his fascination with the Netflix show.

"It's really awesome seeing it in person," he told AFP last week.

"It's just because you see it on TV and you see it in person, just feels really cool."

Q.Najjar--SF-PST