The governor of California seemed to be reacting to the new L.A. district attorney's attitude about victimhood when he ordered a Parole Board risk assessment for the incarcerated Menendez brothers.

Even with three paths to release, a former assistant U.S. attorney outlines the multiple factors that would have to go their way.

Attorneys for Lyle and Erik Menendez say California Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered the state parole board to investigate whether the brothers would pose a risk to the public if they are released after nearly three decades in prison for the 1989 killing of their parents.

Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to ask the California Board of Parole to review the Erik and Lyle Menendez matter could make next month's up-to-now critical resentencing hearing all but irrelevant.

Lawyers for Erik and Lyle Menendez — who have long claimed they murdered their parents because they feared for their lives after years of sexual abuse by their father — filed the habeas corpus petition in Los Angeles Superior Court in May of 2023 to overturn their convictions.