Gov. Gavin Newsom said he will not challenge an appellate court's ruling allowing the release of former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten.
"The Governor is disappointed by the Court of Appeal's decision to release Ms. Van Houten but will not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed," said Erin Mellon, communications director for the Office of the Governor. "The California Supreme Court accepts appeals in very few cases, and generally does not select cases based on this type of fact-specific determination."
In a split ruling in May, a state appeals court panel reinstated a grant of parole for the former Manson follower overturning an earlier decision by Newsom to block her release.
Van Houten, now 73, is serving a potential life prison sentence for taking part in the killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their Los Feliz home more than 50 years ago.
In this September 6, 2017, file photo, Leslie Van Houten reacts after hearing she is eligible for parole during a hearing at the California Institution for Women in Corona, California.
In the 2-1 ruling by the panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal, Associate Justice Helen I. Bendix wrote, "Van Houten has shown extraordinary rehabilitative efforts, insight, remorse, realistic parole plans, support from family and friends, favorable institutional reports, and, at the time of the governor's decision, had received four successive grants of parole."... Under these circumstances, Van Houten's unchanging historical risk factors do not provide some evidence that she is currently dangerous and unsuitable for parole," Bendix wrote.
A state parole board had recommended parole for Van Houten in November 2021, marking the fifth time for such a decision.
Four earlier parole recommendations for Van Houten were rejected by governors, including Newsom.
Newsom had blocked parole for Van Houten in March 2022, writing that, "Given the extreme nature of the crime in which she was involved, I do not believe she has sufficiently demonstrated that she has come to terms with the totality of the factors that led her to participate in the vicious Manson Family killings. Before she can be safely released, Ms. Van Houten must do more to develop her understanding of the factors that caused her to seek acceptance from such a negative, violent influence, and perpetrate extreme acts of wanton violence."
"More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal offenses, the victims' families still feel the impact, as do all Californians. Governor Newsom reversed Ms. Van Houten's parole grant three times since taking office and defended against her challenges of those decisions in court," said Mellon.
Van Houten was convicted of murder and conspiracy for participating with fellow Manson family members Charles "Tex" Watson and Patricia Krenwinkel in the August 1969 killings of grocer Leno LaBianca, 44, and his 38-year-old wife, Rosemary, who were each stabbed multiple times in their Los Feliz home.
The former Monrovia High School cheerleader, who was 19 at the time, did not participate in the Manson family's killings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others in a Benedict Canyon mansion the night before.
A request in May 2020 to release Van Houten, who was then 70, on bail or her own recognizance due to her high risk of contracting COVID-19 was denied.
!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOh wow
I hope she kills another rich pig.
ReplyDeleteIt's long overdue. If Clem can be released after a mere 15 years, she definitely deserves it after 50+.
ReplyDeleteCisco Budge said:
ReplyDeleteI hope she kills another rich pig
Far better to be thought an idiot than to open one's mouth and have it confirmed, don't you think ?
Erin Mellon said:
ReplyDelete"The Governor is disappointed by the Court of Appeal's decision to release Ms. Van Houten but will not pursue further action as efforts to further appeal are unlikely to succeed"
The Guv'nor[s], and many that have taken his stance, have had their day for the best part of 45 years. There was always likely to come that point, if Leslie didn't die first, where their argument would run out of mileage. 2016 was the final throw of that particular dice.🎲
How soon do you think till the Gate creaks open.
ReplyDeleteI assume the List of Restrictions will be LONG and time consuming to formalise before LVH shimmy's her way to Freedom and a Media storm.
California is a mess!
ReplyDeleteI smell a book deal
ReplyDeleteToad said...
ReplyDelete"I smell a book deal"
I was going to say that the day LVH is free, the interview offers will come pouring in -
And for big money, I would imagine.
Could be wrong, but the vultures will be waiting!
Leslie's getting out and Newsom won't be known as the one who signed off on the release of a member of Manson's gang of killers. Whether it's a win-win, only time will tell.
ReplyDeleteRonnieJersey said:
ReplyDeletethe interview offers will come pouring in
Pure curiosity, Ron; Leslie's lawyer, Rich, sometimes gets involved in debates over at Cielo's site. If he contacted you and said, "I like your style and the fact you don't fawn over Leslie, would you conduct an interview with her for the blog you contribute to ?", would you do it ?
They're all going to get out, with the possible exception of Bobby. He'll forever be walkin' the hallways of always according to CM.
ReplyDelete"They're all going to get out"
ReplyDeleteI disagree. Watson and Krenwinkle won't get out.
Let
ReplyDeleteLu-lu
GOOOOooooooooo!!
Good for Leslie. She has more than paid for her part in the crimes.
ReplyDeleteJenn said...
ReplyDeleteWatson and Krenwinkle won't get out.
Agreed. Those two will only leave in pine boxes.
Tex is the most religious man on earth.
ReplyDeleteFree him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No Son of Sam laws in California? I don't see her profiting off her time with the Family. I do see her giving interviews on her rehabilitation and of a cautionary nature.
ReplyDelete"How soon do you think till the Gate creaks open.
ReplyDeleteI assume the List of Restrictions will be LONG and time consuming to formalise before LVH shimmy's her way to Freedom and a Media storm."
Leslie will be released in ten days, maybe two weeks.
The parole guidelines won't be any different for LVH than they are for any other LTO being paroled. The nature of her crime ensures that she will remain on parole for the rest of her life but what that REALLY means is impossible to predict, as it is individual to each parolee. She may spend a little time in transitional housing to kind of "train up" on modern life, and she'll have to check in with a parole officer with some level of frequency. Given Leslie's age and the amount of outside support she enjoys, I don't know that her restrictions would be overly harsh.
As for the media, they are likely to try and "storm" but probably to little effect. LVH has been very clear over the years on this point, she has indicated that she plans on changing her name and on living as quiet a life as possible. She may well pull a Steve Grogan and vanish into plain sight, more or less. I wouldn't be looking for interviews or media appearances at all, though the idea of her one day choosing to author a book (for the income it would provide, if nothing else) is not completely impossible to imagine.
What kind of a life can she have outside of prison? She is going to be hounded by strangers looking to connect. Or worse, hunted by someone looking for notoriety. She will have to live a very secluded life.
ReplyDeleteMaybe John Waters can create a project for her like he helped Patty Hearst, but its been a while since he made a film.
Medium Patty said:
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of a life can she have outside of prison?
I think perhaps we overestimate the difficulties she is likely to face. Give her 10 days or so and she'll be right as rain. I doubt it'll be so drastically different, possibly like going to some of those European isles {Crete, Malta, Rhodes, Cyprus} where you're not allowed to flush the toilet paper away after use, and you have to wrap it up in a bin next to you, or some of the countries in Africa where there's no running water when you've been used to wasting it frivolously with taps, or you can only drink the water after it has been boiled, filtered and cooled.
You acclimatize.
Leslie will acclimatize. She's a human being, not a Martian.
I learned this latest news about Leslie from this article--thanks Matt. From a purely existential and human standpoint, I thought about it late into the night. I thought about what Leslie may be thinking and feeling at this moment, as she knows that she will be freed. Of course I cannot possibly imagine, but I have to believe the emotional cascade she is experiencing presently is probably immense.
ReplyDeleteConcerning the legacy of the extraordinary story that is TLB, with the release of Leslie it shows no signs of slowing down. But it starts a new chapter, as Leslie now joins the only other member of the Manson Family to be released, Steve Grogan, into a new life.
Of course, other recent elements continue to keep the story active in the mainstream press and the blogs: the first granting of parole to Patricia Krenwinkel, the passing of Linda Kasabian, continuing important research, and ongoing parole hearings for those still incarcerated. After 54 years, a remarkable story indeed.
Karla homolka, carol fugate, mrs leonard lake cricket, geraldine gerardo, david parker ray's lady accomplice and erstwhile accomplice daughter are all out and haven't recividized....this is ridiculous. Thank god she's gonna be out
ReplyDeleteDan S said:
ReplyDeleteKarla homolka
If you're thinking of dating Karla, Dan, watch your back ! 😳
She's actually very loyal. She'd do anything for her man.i mean anything. Just don't give her two black eyes and a busted skull; then she might turn on you
DeleteDan S said...
ReplyDeleteKarla homolka, carol fugate, mrs leonard lake cricket, geraldine gerardo, david parker ray's lady accomplice and erstwhile accomplice daughter are all out and haven't recividized....this is ridiculous. Thank god she's gonna be out
Caril Ann Fugare was seriously injured in a traffic accident that killed her husband in 2013. Does anyone know how she's doing now?
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSaint, if we're going to start retelling crime details, no one will ever be released. No doubt more gruesome murders were committed by those who have long been paroled who lacked the unfortunate historical connection to the name Manson. Without the lingering shadow of CM's rep, LVH would have been released probably 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little surprised there has been no official reference to her desire to enact a race war that would kill off all the white people on earth so her group could rule the world, if we are to believe her interrogation from 29 December 1969. "This is a woman who wanted to start a revolution that would kill millions of people" you can almost hear Newsome proclaim.
Showing, once again, motive has little, if any, importance to the justice system. And why no mention that her initial death-penalty conviction was vacated, that she received a second trial with a hung jury and a third trial with punishment of 7 to life. Such is the media. I think murderers of her ilk should never be released, but she's done her legal time, made astounding improvements in prison (more than many who've never been incarcerated) and met all the requirements. As with most everything with this case, it's over and done with.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis POS needs to stay and rot in the cage that has been too good for her. Killing people at random and then singing and chanting in court in front of the victims families is beyond comprehension and she should have been executed 50+ years ago. Anyone who supports her release should have their head examined. I hope she is a sickly, miserable and lonely shell for the rest of her pathetic, worthless life.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"Saint, if we're going to start retelling crime details, no one will ever be released."
ReplyDeleteSt. Circumcised *is* a crime detail.
He is angry at the Guv or at the former family people or at the world, but he doesn't understand how to handle emotion and so he will rant at strangers here. We'll have a few days of drunken ravings from him, followed by dozens of threats to leave us behind, followed eventually by blissful silence once he has tuckered himself out and crawled back into his hole.
It's an amusing ride, if nothing else :D
I wish we lived in a world where everyone was as smart as Saint.
ReplyDeleteAndyTaylor said:
ReplyDeleteWithout the lingering shadow of CM's rep, LVH would have been released probably 20 years ago
I suspect Leslie felt that by renouncing Charlie, and by extension, all he stood for {particularly in the public understanding}, that she would be understood by the public and parole boards, as she wanted to be understood.
But that's not the way all humans work. I would say that she miscalculated the deep-seated feelings people had towards TLB, in its totality. Part of her rehabilitation, and partly why things have taken so long, have been her truly grasping this and why.
I'm a little surprised there has been no official reference to her desire to enact a race war that would kill off all the white people on earth so her group could rule the world, if we are to believe her interrogation from 29 December 1969. "This is a woman who wanted to start a revolution that would kill millions of people" you can almost hear Newsome proclaim
Oh, it used to come up frequently. Kay, Sequeira, Lebowitz, etc knew the script well. The words "race war" used to make a regular appearance, and still do where the others are concerned. It used to grate at some of White America's conscience, but after a while, its importance was downplayed to the very real fact that regardless of what the killers may have thought in their heads, people were dead. Murdered. And besides, HS was always difficult to take seriously by the overwhelming majority of the population. I have long thought that once really understood, one can see just how easy it was to think of with an expanded consciousness, but also, how ridiculous and unworkable it was in reality. Every day, mundane reality.
An interesting aside; as has often been pointed out, the idea that there might be a race war in America wasn't in itself an alien idea. The idea that it might take over the whole of the USA was. The idea that Black people might actually win it, was. The idea that a sufficient number of Black people would even want to wage some kind of race war and harbour hopes of any kind of lasting victory, was always pretty fanciful. Pockets here and there, possibly. Charlie Manson projected his own ideas of vengeance and justice onto what he felt Black people should be feeling. I've long found it interesting that there was no place for the Native American in HS.
But hey.
For Leslie, though she was seen as someone that wanted to start a race war, it was received incredulously. LE thought the idea of a bunch of pretty lazy, non-working druggies actually succeeding in such a venture was ridiculous. No wonder Aaron Stovitz was so against it. He thought the suspects were being handed an instant get-out clause. Insanity, rather than stupidity. When it did get mentioned by the DA's office in future parole hearings, it seemed more for the purposes of adding grist to the mill, second fiddle to the first violin of actual murder, but thrown in for good measure as a counter-melody or support melody that you might often forget because of the power of the actual tune.
And why no mention that her initial death-penalty conviction was vacated, that she received a second trial with a hung jury and a third trial with punishment of 7 to life
Because if that one was mentioned by them, they would be drawing attention to something that they didn't want highlighted. Let's face it, in his summing up in the original trial, Bugliosi emphasized more than once that robbery was not a motive. That was accepted, even though the judge mentioned that had the prosecution chosen to, it could have been considered. Yet, Leslie was ultimately convicted because the charges were amended to include robbery that the original prosecutor had said played no part in the murders.
We're all selective when we want to be ! 🧐
Grimtraveller said:
ReplyDeleteI have long thought that once really understood, one can see just how easy it (HS) was to think of with an expanded consciousness, but also, how ridiculous and unworkable it was in reality.
Spot on. So many people have acted on absolutely ridiculous reasons that make sense to no one other than themselves. Like Jonestown or Heaven’s Gate. And the Family seemed to be all about “expanded consciousness” in the worst way. I guess if Newsome sighted LVH’s belief in HS as a motive to detain her, it would make him appear quite out-of-touch or ungrounded to think that anyone could possibly believe such a thing and, even worse, to commit murder of strangers to accelerate the arrival of that race war. Even though HS seems to be the motive with most evidence, it still sounds like a cartoon. And as you say, in the end, people were murdered and that’s the bottom line. Why they did it is almost irrelevant. I remember reading Tex’s response to a letter asking him for details on one of the drug dealers allegedly orbiting the TLB alternative-motive world and Tex’s short response was pretty bracing. After denying memory or detail of the dealer, he said something surprising. Rather than “be born again, seek Jesus” or some other such sentiment he just wrote “perhaps there is a better use of your time?” And he’s not wrong, of course.
im so happy for her!
ReplyDelete