LOS ANGELES >> A judge’s ruling made Lyle and Erik Menendez eligible for parole, but they still face multiple hurdles in their fight to be released from prison nearly three decades after they were convicted of murdering their parents in 1989.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduced the brothers’ sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life on Tuesday, making them eligible for parole under California’s youthful offender law. The law gives people convicted of crimes committed under the age of 26 the opportunity to be considered for release if they have shown they have matured and been rehabilitated.

The brothers could present their case before a parole board as soon as next month. That’s because they already had a hearing before the board scheduled for June 13 in a clemency petition they had submitted to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

It’s likely that June appearance will also serve as their formal parole hearing, according to David Ring, a Los Angeles trial attorney who’s not involved with the Menendez case.

If parole is granted, it would be up to the governor to approve or deny it.

“And that’s why it kind of merges with the clemency request, because that’s also Newsom’s decision,” Ring said.

The governor hasn’t indicated how he might decide if parole is granted. He said Wednesday that he needs to see what the board recommends but noted that he’s rejected parole in the past. He also said it’s still to be determined whether everything will be combined on June 13. The shotgun killings of the entertainment executive, Jose Menendez, and his wife, Kitty, in their wealthy Beverly Hills neighborhood were brutal. Their older son, Lyle Menendez, was the one who called 911, with the brothers initially claiming the killing was Mafia-related or connected to their father’s business dealings.

The brothers have argued that they committed the crimes in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.

Here’s a look at what comes next:

The brothers’ lawyers turned to family members and those who knew the brothers since their conviction to speak to their character and rehabilitation in prison in front of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic.

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