The first judgment of the Menendez brothers for him murder of his parents had a secondary story that stole their limelight. It was about the disturbed relationship between the therapist family member and a patient, who ended up being decisive for the defense that, after several days of testimony, managed to ensure that this first attempt to convict the brothers ended in deadlock.
In addition to the horrendous dead of record businessman José Menéndez and his wife Mary Louise, a former beauty queen known as Kitty to her children Erik and Lyle, who claimed to be victims of abuse sexual and physical, the judicial process also featured two equally disconcerting witnesses: the therapist of the Menendez,L. Jerome Oziel,and his lover,Judalon Smyth.
Oziel became the irrefutable proof of the case, since he presented as evidence the recordings of the therapy sessions of the siblings in which they described plans for the murder of their parents. However, the main lawyer of the defense of Erik, Leslie Abramson, fought to have the tapes excluded from the judgment and, when this objective was not achieved, he promised to discredit the psychologist “in every way known to man and God.”
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Under that context, the lawyerwho became famous for the case, got the therapist admitted that he had not told the Menéndez family that his license had been suspended due to what he called a “relationship inappropriate”: therapy in exchange for work at home for the benefit of a patient.
Furthermore, it leaked into the judgment a demand that your lover,Judalon Smythfiled against him in 1990 in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that the psychologist He assaulted her, raped her, kidnapped her and medicated her. Case admitted before the lawyer defender had been resolved with an agreement between his insurance company and Smithwhich he countersued on the allegation that she had developed a “strange fixation and obsession with him.”
The state committee of psychologists was also said to have accused Oziel of maintaining a sexual relationship with another woman who worked in her house as a domestic worker and who had improperly given her medication and who had attacked her, the therapist He denied those accusations. Likewise, it was revealed that, instead of delivering the recordings of the sessions with Menéndez to the authorities, he tried to extort money from the siblings.
Consequences for the therapist
He testimony of Oziel in the first judgment against the siblings Menéndez was detrimental to his reputation as psychologist. Following his involvement in the court process, he faced state disciplinary proceedings due to the court’s revelations, and in 1997, the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Board of Psychology charged Oziel with “a series of crimes” linked to his relationship with Smith.
These crimes included: sharing confidential information about their patients with Smith; keep a relationship both commercial and sexual; supply you with drugs; physically assaulting her on two occasions; and engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct with two patients, according to a board spokesperson in interview with CNN.
- Instead of going to court, the therapist He decided to renounce his license “also denying that he had committed irregularities,” according to his lawyer. “He no longer practices psychology and has not done so for several years. It was not worth the expense and the impact on his life.”
The role of Smith in it judgment
Vanity Fair magazine points out that the appearance ofJudalon SmythIt was “the greatest gift to the defense“, whom he defines as “an attractive woman who contacted Oziel in the hope of pursuing couples therapy.”
The patient relationshippsychologist changed when Smith She realized that she could not afford the sessions with Oziel, with whom she became sexually involved and ended up entangled in her marriage and in the Menéndez case. It was she who, after finishing with him therapistwent to the authorities and told them about the recorded confessions of the siblings.
And so, without knowing Erik and Lyle, Smith became a main character for the defense and a weapon to dismiss the therapistwhich was key to a conviction against the siblings Menendez.
Smith She claimed that Oziel emotionally and sexually abused her and testified about the “sexual promissory note” that existed between the two of them: A document similar to a contract in which he promised his devotion and that, as shown in the Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story”was signed with the paw prints of two feline witnesses, Shanti Oz and Ishi Kitty.
In addition, the woman had voice recordings that supported that certified the relationship extramarital affair that she had with him psychologistwho promised her that he would leave his wife to be with her.
In 1989, Smith He settled in the Oziel family home, a presence that was estimated to last two days, but which lasted three months. The family had been “hostage by this woman in our house,” according to the man’s wife. psychologistwhile the lover claimed that she felt like a “prisoner of war” that Oziel threatened to admit her to a psychiatric hospital if she moved, an assertion that was denied by the Oziels.
In 1993, theLA TimesHe said that the details about the relationship betweenOziel and Smythwere so extensive that one juror “defaced his hand” during the trial. testimony of the woman, although she was encouraged when Smith explained why she never wanted to have children with him: “I wouldn’t want children who looked like Dr. Oziel.” (This detail is mentioned as is in the series.)
Abramson admitted that Smith might not be the most reliable person to take the stand: “She is a witness with credibility problems, and I guarantee that she has many,” said theLA Timesregarding statements by the lawyer, who added that “Just like Oziel, who also has many.”
The New York Times said that the defense of the siblings Menendez had been so efficient that “even the 48-minute tape of the men’s confession siblings still psychologist It became a double-edged sword.”
The first judgment It ended with both juries in disagreement. Both siblings They were tried together, but each had an independent jury.
one second judgmentin which the statements of the therapist and his lover, as well as limited testimony regarding the accusations of abuse sex to which the siblingsended with theguilty pleaby Erik and Lyle.
They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Last week, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón reported that his office is evaluating new evidence of possible abuse sexual in the case ofmurderthat involves thesiblings Menendez.
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Public appearance after judgment
While the therapist has decided not to speak about the case of the siblings Menéndez and continue his life outside of it, Smith participated in a interview about his experience in judgment for the docuseriesMurder Made Me Famous.
Herein interview 2015, the woman criticized how the press represented her: “It was a little confusing for me the way the people treated me. media of communication. “I really didn’t understand the attack I received for doing the right thing,” he said. Smith.
Furthermore, he defended his report late to authorities about the confession recordings under Oziel’s control: “It took me a long time to do the right thing. But in the end, I did it.”
Currently, Smith has not responded to the request comments of Vanity Fair US, while Oziel said: “This case happened more than 30 years ago. I turned the page a couple of months after the judgment. My life is very satisfying and has no relationship with this judgment”.
