"If the Menendez brothers are granted parole, then Gavin Newsom's got a very challenging decision to make," said legal expert Steven Clark.

Lyle and Erik, who are now 57 and 54, now qualify for parole — leaving their freedom in the hands of the state parole board and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The shotgun killings of Jose and Kitty Menendez in 1989 captured the public’s attention. Here's what we know about the high publicized case.

Erik and Lyle Menendez are one step closer to freedom after a judge on Tuesday reduced their sentence and opened up the possibility that the brothers might be granted parole. The dramatic development comes more than 30 years after they were placed behind bars for the 1989 murder of their parents.

The two-day proceeding in L.A. ended on its first day with the judge resentencing the brothers who have spent more than three decades behind bars for their parents' 1989 murders.

What once seemed improbable—a release from prison—is now a real possibility for convicted killers Lyle Menendez and Erik Menendez. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic resentenced the siblings who fatally shot their parents in 1989.

As a court reviewed the Menendez murder case, the culture and politics of the 1990s were scrutinized almost as much as the horrific crime.

By Lisa Richwine LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Three cousins of Lyle and Erik Menendez testified in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday in support of the brothers' bid to win release from life sentences they received for the shotgun murders of their parents in Beverly Hills 35 years ago.