The Menendez brothers could be eligible for release very soon after spending decades behind bars for the 1989 murder of their parents in Beverly Hills.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said that on Thursday, he will file paperwork recommending that Lyle and Erik Menendez be resentenced.
The case has taken social media by storm, and on Wednesday, many people reacted to the news. Experts claim younger generations who might not have been born at the time of the crime helped bring the case back into the light.
"I believe they have paid their debt to society," said Gascón.
Gascón, the former San Francisco attorney general, said he is asking the court to consider making parole available.
The brothers, 21 and 18 years of age at the time of the crime, shot and killed their parents in their Beverly Hills home. The defense attorneys for the brothers argued their father sexually abused them. After two trials, they were convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole.
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"We are going to recommend to the court that life without the possibility of parole be removed and that they will be resentenced for murder…they will be eligible for parole immediately," Gascón said.
Legal Analyst Steven Clark said the pair will now go to a hearing before a judge, and then the bothers would have to face a parole board.
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"Based on what you saw at the announcement today, with the support they've received from the community, from the relatives of their family, and what they've done in prison, they have a really good chance of getting out on parole," Clark said.
The case has garnered international attention, partly thanks to a Netflix series, pleas from family members and celebrities, and social media posts. The most recent Netflix documentary acknowledges the TikTok videos created about the brothers and people of the younger generations.
"I watched some of those clips that they have on TikTok, and some of them have millions of views," said Ahmed Banafa, a tech expert and professor at San Jose State University. "This is coming from the ground. This is coming from average people; they sympathize with the two brothers, saying maybe they're right."
Gascón said it would ultimately be up to the Los Angeles Superior Court judge to resentence the bothers. Gascon added that he will make his recommendation on Friday.
A date for a hearing on the matter has yet to be set.
