Legal experts on how Netflix's 'Monsters' could help the Menendez brothers

• Ryan Murphy's latest true-crime drama follows two brothers who killed their parents in 1986.
• He said the show was the best thing to happen to Erik Menendez and Lyle Menendez in 30 years.
• But a legal expert told Business Insider that the show needs to uncover new evidence to help the brothers.

Ryan Murphy believes “Monsters: The Story of Erik and Lyle Menendez” is the best thing to happen in years to the brothers serving life sentences for killing their parents. Legal experts told Business Insider that the show could actually help their case – but only if it helps find compelling evidence.

Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez killed José Menendez and Kitty Menendez in their family home in 1989. While prosecutors argued they murdered their parents for money, the brothers and other family members said it was an act of self-defense after the couple had suffered abuse from her father and mother for years. They were convicted of murder in 1996 and several attempts to appeal their case were unsuccessful.

Murphy's latest installment of his true crime anthology series, Monsters: The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story, put the brothers in the spotlight again when it was released on Netflix in September.

After becoming one of Netflix's most-watched series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story's second season was an instant hit, racking up over 30 million views in the last two weeks and reaching the top of the streaming charts.

This was no consolation to the Menendez brothers and their extended family, who claimed that Netflix did not consult them about the series or ask for their side of the story. They also expressed outrage at a number of plot points, including the suggestion that the brothers were in an incestuous relationship. Netflix did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

In a statement issued last month

But Murphy defended it. He told Variety in September that it was “the best thing that has happened to the Menendez brothers in 30 years.”

Days later, Murphy doubled down on his comments, telling the Hollywood Reporter: “The Menendez brothers should send me flowers. They haven't attracted this much attention in 30 years. And it has captured the attention of not just this country, but the entire country.” around the world.

“The interest in her life and in the case is, so to speak, overwhelming. I know for a fact that a lot of people offered to help because my show and what we did was so interesting.”

The Netflix documentary “The Menendez Brothers,” out October 7 and promising to tell the brothers' side, is sure to only spark more interest in their case.

But could this new attention help the brothers be freed?

True crime has helped exonerate people

Shima Baughman, a law professor at BYU Law School in Utah, said media attention has the potential to help defendants, pointing to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, the subjects of the Emmy-winning Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer.” from the 2010s – one of them the first big true crime hits of the streaming era.

The series focused on Avery's 2007 conviction for the murder of Wisconsin photographer Teresa Halbach and Dassey's 2007 conviction for accessory to murder. The show cast such compelling doubts about the two's guilt that viewers unsuccessfully petitioned then-President Barack Obama to pardon them.

Kathleen Zellner, Avery and Dassey's current lawyer, told the Guardian in 2018 that she took them on as clients after watching the first season.

“As I watched the look on his face during the trial, I thought there was a strong possibility that he was innocent,” Zellner said of Avery.

Baughman said the petition and Zellner's decision to represent Avery and Dassey show the potential impact of real crime.

“If the Menendez brothers' documentary highlights a possible miscarriage of justice, it could have a similarly positive impact,” she said.

But the fact that Avery and Dassey are still serving life sentences shows what little public support means in court.

Netflix's Menendez Brothers series wouldn't do much in court

Laurie L. Levenson, a law professor and David W. Burcham Chair in Ethical Advocacy at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, told Business Insider that true crime media must provide new, solid evidence that defendants can use in court to influence a judge.

In 2020, the Netflix docuseries “Who Killed Malcolm X?” will be released. uncovered new evidence that provided an alibi for two men convicted of the civil rights activist's murder and led to their exoneration a year later. Several true crime podcasts have also resulted in arrests or charges being dropped.

“I think judges in general are a little suspicious of what’s on TV. They draw a line between real facts and entertainment facts,” Levenson said.

Referring to Netflix's Menendez offerings, she added: “I think if the media found really hard evidence, real evidence that would stand up to presentation in the courtroom, that would always be helpful.” And sometimes the media does it too. But if that's not the case, I think it's going to be an interesting show for people.

Levenson said increased public support for the brothers thanks to “Monsters” could help boost their morale and that of their lawyers as they fight for an appeal. But more importantly, it could persuade people to come forward with new information that could help their case.

Levenson added that Netflix's upcoming documentary, which features new interviews with the Menendez brothers, is unlikely to broaden their appeal.

“I think from the court’s perspective that’s not evidence. They can’t just go to court with this because they won’t be cross-examined about what they say in the documentary,” Levenson said. “They get softball questions and say whatever they want. It’s really not the same as evidence and testimony in the courtroom.”

The brothers' next hearing will be on November 26, after a new appeal was filed in May 2023.

The LA Times reported last year that the petition includes two new pieces of evidence: a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin a year before the murder, and Roy Roselló's 2023 claim that José Menendez drugged him as a teenager and raped. Roselló was part of the boy band Menudo, with whom Menendez signed a contract with RCA Records in 1983.

The Menendez brothers' lawyers plan to use this evidence to argue that the brothers were mistreated, have their conviction commuted to manslaughter and reduce their sentence.

Levenson said the brothers have “great lawyers” but an appeal is a long process.

Regarding Murphy's comments on “Monsters,” Levenson added, “In terms of the fact that it's the best thing that ever happened, only if it leads to evidence that actually breaks the case, which I still think it does.” is a real upward fight.”