Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten in 2015 (Photo: CDCR.ca.gov)
Gov. Newsom Won’t Contest Parole Of Manson Family Murderer Leslie Van Houten
‘This is going to cost Newsom a lot of goodwill from supporters’
By Evan Symon, July 8, 2023 8:24 am
In a statement on Friday, the office of Governor Gavin Newsom said that he would not be contesting the parole recommendation of convicted murderer and Manson Family member Leslie Van Houten, moving Van Houten the closest she has been to parole after over 50 years in prison.
Van Houten was arrested at age 19 in 1969 for helping Manson Family leader Charles Manson murder Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary in August of that year. Van Houten personally held down and repeatedly stabbed Rosemary LaBianca during the murder, but did not participate in the more famed Sharon Tate murders that happened a few days before. In 1971, Van Houten was sentenced to death, but had her sentence blocked in 1972 when the death penalty was overturned. After several more years of legal wrangling, Van Houten was finally sentenced to life in jail in 1978.
Since then, Van Houten has tried for parole 26 times and had been up for parole the last five times due to the death of Manson in 2017. Former Governor Jerry Brown denied her twice, with Newsom rejecting her parole three times previously as well. Last year, the California Supreme Court held up her previous parole denial following Van Houten and her lawyer challenging the Governor’s last denial, as well as Newsom rejecting yet another parole attempt.
However, Newsom’s ruling was challenged and brought to court. For the last several months, three judges from the California Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles have heard the appeal, with the 2-1 decision granting Van Houten parole over Newsom’s previous denial in May.
According to the judges, Governor Newsom didn’t adequately explain how Van Houten was under Manson’s influence, how she still posed a risk, and that there was no evidence backing his claims.
“There is no evidence to support the governor’s conclusions about Van Houten’s fitness for parole,” said the judges in their decision on Tuesday. “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. Although the governor states Van Houten’s historical factors ‘remain salient,’ he identifies nothing in the record indicating Van Houten has not successfully addressed those factors through many years of therapy, substance abuse programming, and other efforts.”
Newsom was widely expected to challenge the appeal in the California Supreme Court, where his challenges against the appeals of convicted murderers have had a steady track record of the court siding with him. However, on Friday, Newsom decided to not contest the ruling, meaning that Van Houten will be released in only a manner of weeks.
“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 Newsom communications director Erin Mellon in a statement on Friday. “More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal offenses, the victims’ families still feel the impact, as do all Californians. The California Supreme Court accepts appeals in very few cases, and generally does not select cases based on this type of fact-specific determination.”
Van Houten’s attorney, Nancy Tetreault, added that “She’s thrilled. There’s no evidence, there’s nothing in her current record that shows she is dangerous. She’s an elderly woman, and she’s really quite sweet.”
The shock decision confounded many experts on Friday, who noted that previous rulings indicated that Newsom would have prevailed, along with the current California Supreme Court being largely opposed to releasing many high profile criminals.
“Everyone was expecting Newsom to challenge it, as he has had a long track record of paroling these infamous killers,” explained criminal law advisor Benny Forbes to the Globe. “Even Newsom opponents didn’t have anything bad to say about Newsom denying parole to them again and again. Well, that changed today.”
“They said that it would not have succeeded, but A: That’s not what happened in the past, and B: He didn’t even try. And now she is going to be out because of him.”
“This is going to cost Newsom a lot of goodwill from supporters and takes away one of the few positives opponents gave him. Oh, and you can bet this will come up during any future election, like if he runs for President in 2028. He let a Manson family murderer out of prison. You cannot spin that into a positive. If he at least tried and the Supreme Court did strike it down, then at least he could have said he did all that he could have done, but he didn’t do that.”
Van Houten is due to be released sometime in the next several weeks.
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Another first fro Newsom – letting a Manson-ite go
Even Jerry Brown wouldn’t countenance such an action.
On the other hand, national republicans are now saying “thank you!”
“She’s really quite sweet”. There is nothing sweet about this convicted first degree murderer who literally butchered her victims! It does not surprise me that Governor Climate Change is going to let this happen. He has released thousands of violent criminals out of jail so how about one more! And with SB94 getting closer to his desk for a signature more convicted murderers will be released thanks to him and Democraptic pukes like Dave Cortese, Nancy Skinner, and of course the Wieeeeeennnnnnnneeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrr! They care more about criminals than they do law abiding citizens. And these Democraps are the same people that go after our Second Amendment rights and want us disarmed so we can’t defend ourselves against the thugs they release! I know I am mostly “preaching to the choir” but we need to get the word out about these Democraps! And you haven’t already pre-order Mark Levin’s new book “The Democratic Party Hates America”.
Well said, John.
This is a matter of justice — true justice — not that sour, thin gruel the modern-day-marxists call “social justice,” which is the opposite. But as you indicated, this is not a surprise. Newsom long ago sold his soul for a “mess of pottage.” His resulting “God complex” deludes him into thinking he has every right to abuse the slice of power he has somehow acquired and maintained.
Read what can be found at Evan Symon’s first link above about what Leslie Van Houten did; the horror and evil of it that transcends all the sympathy-seeking weak excuses we’ve ever heard about her age then or her age now. Our current crop of leaders have dismissed victims of crime, even horrendous violent crime, because of their God-complex blinders; thus they no longer even acknowledge the direct victims: Those who were murdered, raped, brutalized, terrorized and tortured, both mentally and physically. Therefore they cannot or will not then go further to acknowledge the other victims also cripplingly affected by fake god Newsom and his ilk’s arrogance and cruelty: A victim’s family and other loved-ones, neighbors, colleagues, and acquaintances. Even an entire society will be further sickened and weakened and harmed when true justice is not carried out but is instead hijacked by a person such as Gavin Newsom and all of those in power who may have different faces but share the same sick and rotting soul.
Not surprised? Newsom and lawless Democrats want as many criminals out on the streets as possible preying on innocent Californians? It’s part of the deep-state WEF globalist agenda to create as much chaos and mayhem as possible?
in a contained prison environment leslie van houten may not pose a specific danger/threat to others. there she is guarded and monitored and would be quickly be subdued given an opportunity of aggression. what crystal ball into the future dictates society will remain safe from her? who in our communities would welcome her to their neighborhood. regardless of psychological counselling a sociopathic personality is by definition, not curable. van houtens lawyer callously deminishes her clients actions towards victims and their families by describing lesllie as “sweet and thrilled to be released” is she grandstanding her own “15 minutes?” that leslie van houten has been released leaves mosto of us reeling in horror. van houten should be back in prison. regardless of alledged coercion, one is responsible for their actions. two people murdered by her hand an her will. incarceration in where she belongs. she has her life. its enough for her. others eternally lost theirs, dying in terror.
This decision from Hell’s Governor does not surprise me one bit. He has been Hell Bent on every far left destructive collision course he can conjure up, and this is just his latest stunt.
The man needs to be in prison himself.