Global Courant
Leslie Van Houten, a follower of Charles Manson who was convicted of two murders, will be paroled in weeks, her attorney said Friday after California’s governor said he would not challenge it in the state’s Supreme Court.
“She is very happy,” said Van Houten’s lawyer Nancy Tetreault.
Van Houten, now 73, will be paroled in the coming weeks after spending more than five decades in prison, Tetreault said.
An appeals court in May ruled that Van Houten is eligible for parole, overturning a decision by Governor Gavin Newsom to deny parole.
Newsom, who has repeatedly blocked attempts to parole Van Houten, had until Monday to file a complaint with the state Supreme Court.
Newsom, a Democrat, said Friday he would not.
“The governor is disappointed with the decision of the Court of Appeals to release Ms. Van Houten, but will not take any further action because attempts to appeal further are likely to be unsuccessful,” said Erin Mellon, spokesman for the Justice Department’s office. the governor, in a statement.
“The California Supreme Court accepts appeals in very few cases and generally does not select cases based on these types of fact-specific determinations,” the governor’s office said.
Van Houten is serving a life sentence after being convicted along with other cult members of the 1969 murders of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in Los Angeles.
A jury convicted Van Houten in 1971 of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. She was initially sentenced to death, but that was overturned and she served 52 years in state prison.
Van Houten has been before the State Board of Parole Hearings more than 20 times. The board has recommended that Van Houten be paroled five times since 2016, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Newsom had Van Houten’s conditional award reversed three times. For him, Governor Jerry Brown turned it around.
In August 1969, Manson and cult member Charles “Tex” Watson entered LaBianca’s house and tied the couple up.
Manson then went to a car and told Van Houten and another person to go in and follow Watson’s directions, according to court documents. Watson told them to kill Rosemary LaBianca, and Watson had Leno LaBianca killed.
The day before the LaBiancas were killed, Watson and other cult members, but not Van Houten, murdered actress Sharon Tate and others in Tate’s home.
Manson, who was serving life in prison, died in a hospital in 2017. Watson is serving life in prison.
Tetreault said Van Houten no longer poses a threat to society. Van Houten is working on her rehabilitation and has been in therapy for decades, she said.
“There’s no evidence, there’s nothing in her current file that shows she’s dangerous,” Tetreault said, adding, “She’s an older woman and she’s really sweet.”
Tetreault does not want to say where Van Houten will live when she is paroled. Van Houten will receive a maximum probationary term of three years with a review of discharge after one year, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Andrew Blankstein and Todd Miyazawa contributed.
