The Menendez brothers’ parole hearing will be followed by reviews from the California Board of Parole chief counsel and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

What to Know

  • Parole hearings are set for late this week on the cases of Erik and Lyle Menendez.
  • If granted, parole would mean freedom for the brothers after more than 30 years in prison for the shotgun murders of their parents in 1989.
  • Sometime after the hearing, a written decision will be announced by the parole hearing panel, but that decision is not final.
  • If granted, the parole decision is reviewed by the parole board’s chief counsel within a 120-day window.
  • If a grant is approved by counsel, the matter heads to the governor, who has 30 days to make a decision and several options under the California Constitution.

Key steps will follow this week’s dual parole hearings for Lyle and Erik Menendez in a multi-layered process that could results in their freedom after more than 30 years in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents at the family’s Beverly Hills mansion.

Erik Menendez’s parole suitability hearing is scheduled for Thursday with Lyle Menendez’s hearing set for Friday. The brothers, whose path to parole was cleared when they were resentenced earlier this year, will appear for the hearings on a video feed from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego.

Parole hearings before a panel of two to three hearing officers usually take about two to three hours with a written decision delivered after the proceeding, possibly that same day.

That decision is not final and subject to a lengthy review that includes the California Board of Parole and governor. An audio recording of the hearing will be transcribed and becomes part of the review process.

If parole is denied, attorneys for the inmate can request a board review of the case for errors of fact. If there’s a tie, the full parole board will review the case and make a determination at one of its monthly meetings. It was not immediately clear how many officers will be part of the this week’s hearing.

If parole is granted, the decision is sent to the board’s chief counsel for a review that can take up to 120 days. Based on the limit of that timeline, the board’s review of a possible grant for the Menendez brothers could come as late as mid-December. The chief counsel will check for legal or factual errors and can send the decision to the full parole board for review.

If the grant if upheld by the chief counsel, the matter is then sent to the governor, who has several options under the California Constitution. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has a stack of other issues on his desk that include immigration enforcement and election map redistricting, would have 30 days to review after receiving the decision from the board.

Convicts to social media stars? Erik and Lyle Menendez, who a judge ruled to now be eligible for parole following the killing of their parents, have received support on social media and coverage by Internet users. Jonathan Gonzalez reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.

The governor can affirm, reverse or modify the decision, or send any case involving a murder conviction to the full board for review. Any relevant and reliable information available must be considered.

If the governor takes no action, the board decision stands. If the governor reverses the decision, the inmate will be scheduled for a new parole hearing within 18 month from the last hearing.

If the parole process determines the inmate does not pose an “unreasonable risk” to public safety, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is charged with processing them for release. That step includes confirming parole plans, and notifying jurisdictions and registered victims of the inmate’s release.

According to the CDCR, less than 1 percent of people released after a parole hearing are convicted of new felony crimes within three years of release. Less than 3 percent are convicted of new misdemeanor or felony crime, according to the agency.