(NewsNation) — Legal analyst and attorney Darryl Cohen tells “NewsNation Prime” that Erik and Lyle Menendez, the brothers currently in prison for the murder of their parents, likely wouldn’t have secured a potential resentencing without the help of Netflix’s recent hit series.
“I think Netflix added so much pressure and tension on the entire system, that everyone began to take not just another look, but serious, additional looks,” he said.
In the months following the premiere of “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” relatives of the brothers have come forward in support of a reduced sentence, and public attention has once again focused on the case and its newest evidence.
But the subjects of the series publicly decried the show, with Erik Menendez responding in an X post shared by Tammi Menendez, his wife.
In the post, he explicitly blames creator Ryan Murphy for the show’s portrayal, saying he “cannot be this naïve and inaccurate about the facts of our lives,” adding that the show had to have been created with “bad intent.”
Murphy called the show “the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years in prison.”
The brothers were tried separately in 1993 and then jointly in 1995, ultimately being convicted in 1996 for the Beverly Hills murders. They were sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, though the Los Angeles District Attorney‘s recent recommendation could change that.
Cohen thinks it could come soon.
“This is unique in the annals of legal history. It’s not by itself, but it’s really very unique and very unusual,” he said. “I believe that we will see have a hearing, and we’ll see these two formally convicted people, without parole, released almost immediately.”
Another Netflix show, a documentary about the brothers, debuted shortly after Murphy’s fictional series.
NewsNation’s Steph Whiteside contributed to this report.
