Erik and Lyle Menendez will make separate bids for freedom before California’s Board of Parole Hearings this week, their first opportunity for release since they were convicted nearly three decades ago of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in Beverly Hills in 1989. Erik’s hearing is scheduled for Thursday, 21 August, with Lyle’s to follow on Friday. The brothers became eligible for parole after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic on 13 May resentenced them from life without parole to 50 years to life. The ruling applied California’s youthful-offender provisions because the men were 18 and 21 at the time of the crime. Now 54 and 57, they will appear by video from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego to argue that they no longer pose an unreasonable risk to society. Parole panels of two or three commissioners will examine the brothers’ disciplinary records, psychological assessments and extensive prison programming, as well as statements from the victims’ relatives and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. District Attorney Nathan Hochman remains firmly opposed, saying the men have “never fully accepted responsibility.” Defence lawyer Mark Geragos counters that both brothers have expressed remorse and maintained exemplary prison records apart from several contraband-phone violations cited in a recent risk assessment that classified them as moderate risk. The board typically issues a same-day recommendation, which then undergoes up to 120 days of administrative review. Governor Gavin Newsom will have a further 30 days to approve, reverse or modify any grant. If parole is denied, the brothers would wait at least three years for another hearing, while separate petitions for clemency and for a new trial continue to move through the courts.