As a viewer of true crime TV shows, you might be wondering whether they affect the real-life investigations of the cases that were featured.
After all, some of the cases depicted have not been solved yet after years or decades of searching for answers. Being featured in a true crime show allows them to have public awareness and perhaps convince the law authorities to revisit them.
Let's explore the effects of true crime TV on real-life investigations.
The Impact of True Crime Shows in Real-Life Investigations
We have seen a recent example where true crime shows lead to an immediate effect on a real-life investigation with the Menendez brothers.
The releases of Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and The Menendez Brothers documentary sparked public interest in the case.
To recap, the Menendez brothers testified that they feared their parents were about to kill them to prevent the disclosure of their father’s sexual abuse of Erik.
However, the sexual abuse allegations were not allowed to be presented to the jury and the prosecutors managed to argue that the brothers murdered their parents for financial reasons.
With their story being featured in true crime shows and documentaries, the public became aware of their case again, sympathized with the Menendez brothers' side, and clamored for their resentencing.
Criminal defense attorney Adam Banner explained, "Not only does that make us feel better intrinsically, but it also objectively gives us the ability to think, ‘Well, now I can take this case and put it in a different bucket than another situation where I have no explanation and the only thing I can say is, ‘This child just must be evil.'"
This example just shows that true crime shows can have a profound effect on real-life investigations and change the lives of the subjects of the case.
However, as of the writing of this article, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has not made a decision yet on whether they would recommend the Menendez brothers' resentencing.
The Negative Impact of True Crime TV
However, there is still a negative impact of true crime shows on real-life investigations.
As Vox stated, the public's fascination with true crime has made the lawyers consider "how much jurors’ perception of a case has been affected by what they’ve heard outside of the courtroom."
Given this factor, they "must now prepare for trial based on what has been reported as well as what speculation has appeared on social media."
MU professor emeritus of law Rodney Uphoff explained, "There’s so many sources, and the internet has all sorts of conspiracy theories and theorists."
With the potential jurors of the case exposed to the news reports or true crime documentaries online, it adds some unexpected layer to how they handle the investigation and the trial and questions whether they can able to have fairness in the judgment.
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