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Manson Ally's Parole Denied
San Bernardino County Sun RIVERSIDE - Even though she has a good prison record, a convicted murderer who killed for Charles Manson can be denied parole because of the nature of her crime, a state appeals court panel ruled Monday. Leslie Van Houten, 54, was 19 when she and fellow Manson Family members killed Rosemary and Leno La Bianca in August 1969. She was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and sentenced to seven years to life in prison. Following a parole hearing in 2000 when she was denied parole for the 13th time Van Houten and her lawyer asked a judge to order the state Board of Prison Terms to explain why the parole was denied and give her another hearing. The board subsequently denied her parole again in 2002. San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Bob Krug granted Van Houten's request, and ordered the board to produce evidence that keeping her in prison "will result in her being less dangerous than she is at present time." On Monday, the 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside reversed Krug's decision. While Krug had found some parts of the board's decision to read like a "script," the presiding justice of the appeals court panel found the board's decision to be "serious, deliberate and thoughtful." A key aspect of Monday's ruling was the finding that the nature of Van Houten's crime was, in itself, enough to deny parole. After an accomplice had already stabbed Rosemary La Bianca, Van Houten admitted to stabbing her 30 more times to make sure she was dead. "the crime was of such a heinous, atrocious, and cruel character that this factor alone justified the Board's determination that Van Houten was unsuitable for parole," wrote Manuel A. Ramirez, the presiding justice of the appeals court. Van Houten's attorney, Christie Webb, said the crime itself shouldn't be the sole factor for deciding whether Van Houten should be released from the California Institution for Women near Chino. "They have turned her sentence into life without parole and that's illegal," Webb said. California Deputy Attorney General Heather Bushman, who represented the state Board of Prison Terms, said the ruling will keep judges from overreaching their authority. "Parole suitability is a decision for the board, not the courts," she said. Eric Lampel, an attorney for Susan Atkins, another Manson "family" member convicted of murder, was angered by the decision that the crimes can be the sole factor. "It's outrageous and unconstitutional. That's the kind of non-thinking crap that makes the judiciary a laughingstock," Lampel said. "When boards can act with impunity, that's not justice." |
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