Crowd gathers for chance to attend Menendez brothers hearing NBC Los Angeles [Video]

About two dozen people gathered early Monday outside a Van Nuys courthouse in hopes of being one of the 16 people allowed to attend the first court appearance in years by Erik and Lyle Menendez.

The hearing that generated such high interest at the same courthouse where the brothers were convicted in 1995 for the shotgun murders of their parents was a status conference. The conferences typically involve basic housekeeping matters for the court, such as scheduling, that draw little interest from the press and public.

But the presence of the key figures at the center of the high-profile Los Angeles murder case made this status conference unlike most others. Seats for the 10:30 a.m. PT proceeding, which marked the first time the brothers have appeared together in court in decades, were opened to the public through a lottery system.

Enthusiastic case watchers gathered outside the high-rise court building alongside members of the media from around the world. The 16 lottery tickets were issued about two …