(CNN) Charles Manson follower Bobby Beausoleil was recommended for parole at his 19th overall hearing Thursday, a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman said.

Beausoleil, 71, is serving a life sentence at California Medical Facility in Vacaville for the murder of Gary Hinman 40 years ago. A parole board panel of commissioners said he is suitable for parole.

The Board of Parole Hearings staff will review the facts of the case next and, if it is approved, the case will go to recently elected Gov. Gavin Newsom to rule on the parole decision, corrections spokesman Luis Patiño said.

"An inmate that is eligible for parole has a right to be paroled unless he or she is currently dangerous, and Mr. Beausoleil, in my view, hasn't been dangerous in decades," Beausoleil's attorney Jason Campbell told CNN. "He has spent the last 50 years gradually growing and improving himself and in particular, over the last few decades, he's been pretty much a model inmate."

"He is a very conscientious, thoughtful, and introspective person," Campbell added. "I am his lawyer, but beyond that, I have a family of my own and I would have no problems inviting him over. He's a very kind man and I consider him a good man too."

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