Menendez Retrial Is All but Certain : Courts: Both sides indicate that plea-bargain discussions ordered by the judge were unproductive. A new trial date will be set on June 27.

Talks aimed at striking a plea bargain to settle the Menendez brothers murder case went nowhere, lawyers on the case said Thursday, meaning that a costly retrial is all but certain.

Ordered by the judge in the case to sit down for settlement talks, the prosecution and defense met Monday. Lawyers on both sides declined Thursday to discuss details but made it plain that the session was unproductive.

“We had a meeting. We’ll be reporting it to the court,” defense lawyer Leslie Abramson said, adding, “If an agreement had been reached, we would have announced it to the world.”

Chief prosecutor David Conn was even more succinct: “We had a meeting. No agreement has been reached.”

There are apparently no plans for further meetings.

Lyle Menendez, 26, and Erik Menendez, 23, are charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 20, 1989, shotgun slayings of their parents, Jose Menendez, 45, a wealthy entertainment executive, and Kitty Menendez, 47. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

At their trial, the sons admitted that they shot the parents in the TV room of the family’s Beverly Hills mansion. Prosecutors said the brothers were motivated by hatred and greed. But the brothers testified that they killed in fear and self-defense after years of physical, emotional and sexual abuse.

The six-month trial ended in January when separate juries, one for each brother, deadlocked between murder and lesser manslaughter charges.

Apparently mindful that the cost of the first trial topped $1 million in taxpayer funds, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg had directed both sides to discuss the possibility of a plea bargain.

At an April 15 hearing, Weisberg said he was not trying to pressure the prosecution or the defense to strike a deal. Instead, he noted that most criminal cases end in a plea bargain and said that the Menendez case “should be no exception.”

Defense attorneys have said repeatedly that the brothers would consider guilty pleas to manslaughter charges. When the first trial ended, however, Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti said that was out of the question, insisting on first-degree murder charges.

With the two sides apparently still far apart after the meeting Monday, Weisberg will set a trial date at a June 27 hearing.

The start date for a retrial depends on whether one jury or two will hear the case, and on whether the brothers will be tried together or separately. Weisberg said he will take up those issues at the June hearing.