The lawyer for celebrity killers Erik and Lyle Menendez said the Los Angeles district attorney has a personal vendetta against the pair and wants him kicked off their case in an explosive courtroom hearing that left freedom for the brothers undecided.

A long-awaited resentencing hearing for Lyle and Erik Menendez ground to a halt Thursday just hours after attorneys arrived at the courthouse in Van Nuys, partly over a risk assessment report on the brothers that was was not intended for this week's court proceeding.

Brothers Erik and Lyle Menendez, who were sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents in Beverly Hills, are scheduled for a hearing on Thursday that could determine whether they are eligible for reduced sentences and a potential path to parole after more than 30 years behind bars.