Erik and Lyle Menendez, wearing blue prison uniforms, listened as relatives broke down in tears, begging the judge to set them free during the first day of a two-day hearing.

The 1989 shotgun murders of Jose and Kitty Menendez in Los Angeles gripped the nation. The killings of the entertainment executive and his wife in their wealthy Beverly Hills neighborhood were brutal.

Have Erik and Lyle Menendez been rehabilitated during 30-plus years in prison? That's the question at the center of this week's two-day court hearing in Los Angeles.

On the first day of Erik and Lyle Menendez ‘s resentencing hearing Tuesday, their cousins, a former judge and a former fellow inmate took to the witness stand to testify that the brothers were not only rehabilitated but helped others.