Taking into consideration new evidence, the Menendez Brothers case is currently under review for a possible resentencing that will take place in November.
On Aug. 20, 1989, Lyle and Erik Menendez murdered their parents, José and Kitty Menendez in their Beverly Hills home. The brothers later confessed to the murders, but said that they were out of self-defense. The brothers claimed high levels of sexual abuse directed towards them at the hands of their father and the case suddenly took a turn.
Controversy sparked in the public’s eye as some had sympathy for the brothers and believed they had a justifiable reason for the murders, while others believed the opposite, saying it was out of wanting their multi-million dollar estate inheritance faster as they spent over $700K in a “shopping spree” they had directly following the murders.
After the first trial resulted in a hung jury, the retrial in 1996 ultimately led to their conviction of first-degree murder where they were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
However, recently, Netflix released “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and the documentary, The Menendez Brothers that sparked the attention of the media yet again as it depicted the crime as many began to wonder what truly happened that night in Beverly Hills.
Along with the Netflix release, a letter from Erik that he wrote to his cousin Andy was later found, that alludes to the abuse he endured from his father. This adds to their defense as it shows signs of abuse from José to Erik that they didn’t have during the previous trials.
Also, on Oct. 16, about 24 of the Menendez family members gathered in a press conference all universally agreeing that, “something wasn’t quite right,” and hope that with the Nov. re-examination of the case, will ultimately allow the brothers to reunite with their family after 34 years of prison.
After all of this came out regarding the case, naturally social media spiraled with people questioning if they really are the villains or, on the contrary, the victims.
Dean Roehrborn, a government teacher here at MCHS, explains the impact and dangers media coverage can have on public opinions and how education is key for a relevant and logical opinion to be formed.
“I think social media can absolutely have the biggest impact,” says Roehrborn. “I don’t think a lot of people actually do a lot of research when it comes to this kind of stuff.”
“It depends on the perception that Netflix is trying to portray,” continues Roehrborn. “People can tend to follow that like it is 100% accurate and they will take that to social media and spread that around … and people will take that as the truth without doing further research.”
Regarding the outcome of the retrial, John Lunkenheimer, Youth and Law teacher at MCHS believes all the media coverage can affect the jury in “today’s world” vs the 90’s as it is “almost impossible to prevent anyone from hearing about the trial and isolating a jury.”
It isn’t predictable what the jury will decide in this reexamination but Roehrborn continues stating that a jury would have their “own version” of what actually happened based on what they see in that courtroom that “we won’t know about” and form their verdict on that alone.
However, even if the outcome is still up in the air, many are using their prominence to share what they think should happen in the result of this review.
Kim Kardashian, for example, has educated herself and taken action writing to NBC News on why the brothers should be freed.
“Following years of abuse and a real fear for their lives,” says Kardashian to NBC. “Erik and Lyle chose what they thought at the time was their only way out — an unimaginable way to escape their living nightmare.”