Originally appeared on E! Online.
Some connections in the legal world go beyond professional.
As Sean “Diddy” Combs, Luigi Mangione and the Menendez Brothers are amid their respective high-profile legal battles, they have a lot in common when it comes to those representing them on the case. After all, it appears two families of lawyers are taking on the weight of these cases.
For Combs’ sex trafficking trial that began May 12 — in which he pleaded not guilty to charges of sex trafficking, prostitution, racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion, as well as transportation to engage in prostitution — Marc Agnifilo has taken on the role of lead counsel. By his side is Teny Geragos, a partner at Agnifilio’s firm.
With Marc and Teny busy in a New York City courthouse as Cassie Ventura and other witnesses for the prosecution have since taken the stand, their loved ones are working on their own legal cases.
While Marc’s wife Karen Friedman Agnifilo is busy preparing for her client Luigi Mangione’s upcoming trial for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December, Teny’s father Mark Geragos is celebrating a major win with his case.
READ: Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Trial: Cassie Ventura Says She Had to Do “Freak Offs” With UTIs
Los Angeles County Judge Michael Jesic officially ruled that Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez’s life sentences for the 1989 murders of their parents José Menendez and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez would be reduced to 50 years to life with the possibility of parole, according to NBC News.
“Now we see the pot at the end of the rainbow, so to speak, or their freedom,” Mark, whose clients have already spent more than 30 years in prison, told reporters outside the L.A. courthouse. “One of the things I think is important is to recognize, like the legislators have done, we have evolved. This is not the ‘90s anymore. We have a more robust understanding of a lot of things.”
Meanwhile, Karen — who met now-husband Marc in 1992 — has been busy preparing to return to court in December. Luigi, 26, pleaded not guilty in April to federal charges — two counts of stalking, one count of murder through a firearm, as well as one count of firearms offense for an allegation that he used a silencer — in connection with the shooting.
She previously shared insight into his defense’s potential strategy, telling CNN in December before she took the case, “There might be a not guilty by reason of insanity defense that they’re going to be thinking about because the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that he did what he did.”
Combs faces five criminal counts in total, including two of sex trafficking. He has denied all the allegations.
“As a former prosecutor in that office, I would be concerned that you have someone who is a valedictorian of his class, he was brilliant his whole life, he comes from this great family,” she continued. “Something changed, significantly, something changed.”
Along with a notable name, Karen said she’s learned a lot from Marc — who previously represented NXVIM leader Keith Raniere in his 2018 sex-trafficking case for which he was sentenced to 120 years in prison.
“There’s no crime necessarily that I wouldn’t take or even set of factors that I wouldn’t take,” she said on the “Shut Up Mommy’s Talking” podcast in 2022. “I do believe that everyone’s entitled to a defense and to good representation, and I’ve always believed that.”
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Rosie O’Donnell is sharing personal insight into her support for the Menendez brothers. The actress and comedian joined Chris Cuomo on News Nation alongside the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, and explained why she’s passionately advocating for their release.
