2023-06-01 10:31:47
Former member of the “Manson family”, Leslie Van Houten was convicted of murder, but could benefit from parole.
A Californian appeals court has cleared the way for the parole of Leslie Van Houten, a former member of the “Manson family”. A panel of three judges voted two to one to reinstate the decision of the Parole Board that had ruled Leslie Van Houten fit for parole, reversing Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to overturn that parole. decision.
Ms Van Houten, 72, has been convicted for her role in the infamous murder of Los Angeles couple Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. She has been the subject of five recommendations for parole, the last being in November 2021. But these decisions were overturned each time by the governor of California. The new decision by the appeals court stems from Mr Newsom’s reversal of a decision made in 2020 to grant Mr Van Houten parole. At the time, the governor said that ” the evidence shows that [Van Houten] currently poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison ».
But in their decision, the two judges who voted to overturn Mr Newsom’s decision said that ” there is no evidence to support the governor’s conclusions “. They continue: Van Houten provided detailed explanations of the causal factors that led her to collaborate with Manson and carry out the murders, and the record does not support the conclusion that there are hidden factors that Van Houten did not take into account. account. The governor’s refusal to accept Van Houten’s explanation is an unsubstantiated hunch. »
The Court of Appeal held that Mr. Newsom’s decision ” ignores the decades of therapy, self-help programs and reflection Ms. Van Houten has undergone over the past 50 years. The historical factors identified in the criminal risk assessment are the type of immutable circumstances that our Supreme Court has held cannot support a finding of present dangerousness when there is ample evidence of rehabilitation. »
Rich Pfeiffer, one of Van Houten’s lawyers, welcomed the decision, telling Rolling Stone : « I expected it and it was time “. He added that Van Houten could be released from prison “ from this week ».
But despite this decision, Van Houten’s release from prison is not fully assured. It is likely that California Attorney General Rob Bonta will ask the state Supreme Court to block Ms Van Houten’s release, to which Mr Pfeiffer ” fully expect ».
However, the Supreme Court could grant Ms Van Houten parole when it considers the attorney general’s motion, a process that could take up to a year or more, according to Pfeiffer. ” Given his age and his prison history, I expect the Supreme Court to allow him to be granted parole, even if it grants a reconsideration. “, he adds.
Mr. Newsom’s office and the California attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to our requests for comment.
Ms. Van Houten is serving a life sentence for her role in the LaBianca murders, which took place in August 1969 when she was 19 (she was not involved in the murders at Sharon Tate’s home by the followers of Manson). Van Houten was sentenced to death in 1971, but that judgment was overturned after California briefly abolished the death penalty. Two more trials followed, which resulted in a life prison sentence. The court, however, said Van Houten could be released on parole from 1977.
Over the decades, Ms Van Houten has filed more than 20 parole applications, with the parole board recommending her release for the first time in 2016. Decisions by Mr. Newsom and his predecessor, Mr. Jerry Brown, to overturn those rulings have generally been upheld on appeal, but this time around, Ms. Van Houten’s efforts were ultimately successful.
Jon Blistein
Translated by the editor
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