The Menendez brothers are “cautiously optimistic” that they will be released, the lawyer says

The attorney for Lyle and Erik Menendez said he thinks the brothers are “cautiously optimistic that they could see some real relief” after the Los Angeles County district attorney announced he is recommending a resentencing.

Mark Geragos told ABC News' “Good Morning America” ​​his goal is to have the brothers home for Thanksgiving.

While District Attorney George Gascón said he hopes to have a hearing within the next 30 to 45 days, Geragos said he believes there will be a hearing “well before that.”

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Gascón said he recommended in a court filing Friday that the brothers' life sentence without the possibility of parole be overturned and instead convict them of murder, which would be equivalent to a sentence of 50 years to life in prison. Because of the brothers' age – both were under 26 at the time of the crime – they would be immediately eligible for parole, Gascón said at a press conference on Thursday.

The final decision on resentencing will be made by a judge and the parole board must also approve, Gascón said.

Gascón told ABC News this month that any resentencing recommendation would take into account the decades the brothers have already served and their behavior in prison.

The brothers had a positive influence during their incarceration, even though they had “no hope of ever getting out of prison,” Gascón said. They focused on “creating groups that deal with dealing with untreated trauma and creating groups that deal with other inmates who have physical disabilities and may be treated differently.” Even in one case, Lyle negotiated on behalf of others inmates about the conditions in which they live,” he said.

Geragos said Lyle Menendez earned a college degree behind bars while Erik Menendez provides hospice care to inmates.

“You did great things in prison. I don’t see anything that would stop them from continuing this work after their release,” Geragos said.

Gascón said his message to the brothers was: “We appreciate what they did while they were in prison. While I disapprove of the way they have dealt with their abuse, we hope that not only have they learned – which they appear to have learned – but also that when they are reintegrated into our community, they will continue serve the common good.”

“There is no excuse for murder,” Gascón stressed at the press conference, adding that he “does not believe that manslaughter would have been the appropriate charge (which should be requested in the resentencing motion), given the premeditation involved.”

Lyle and Erik Menendez were each sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without parole after being convicted in the 1996 fatal shooting of their parents.

Lyle Menendez was 21 and Erik Menendez was 18 when they killed Jose and Kitty Menendez in the family's Beverly Hills home in 1989. The brothers argued they acted in self-defense after enduring years of sexual abuse at the hands of their father; Prosecutors claimed they killed their wealthy parents for financial gain.

Nearly two dozen of the brothers' relatives gathered at a news conference last week to urge resentencing.

But a relative – the brothers' uncle, Milton Andersen – stubbornly insists on keeping them behind bars. He said he firmly believes his nephews were not sexually abused and were only motivated by greed.

“The jury’s verdict was fair and the punishment fits the heinous crime,” he said in a statement.