[ad_1]
DOSSIER – In this archive photo from September 6, 2017, Leslie Van Houten reacts after learning that she was eligible for parole at a hearing at the California Women's Institution. in Corona, California. A disciple of Charles Manson, Van Houten, has another chance to get out of prison. Van Houten's lawyer will argue that she deserves parole at a hearing before the California Court of Appeal in Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. Van Houten, 69, is not expected herself. (Stan Lim / Los Angeles Daily News via AP, Pool, File)
LOS ANGELES – On Wednesday, a California court of appeal asked whether she had the jurisdiction to decide on the parole of Leslie Van Houten, a disciple of Charles Manson, or if the question had become moot after the governor l '. decided.
Van Houten's lawyer told a panel of three judges of the district's second appeals court that his client was remorseful and took responsibility for his crimes. A public prosecutor said the 69-year-old had accused Manson too much.
Van Houten was 19 years old when she and other members of the Manson sect stabbed Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, a grocer in Los Angeles, to death in 1969. The murders took place one day after Another member of the Manson family killed actress Sharon Tate and four others. in crimes that shocked the world.
Van Houten, serving a life sentence, was not involved in the other murders.
The appeal judges review the decision of a lower court that had denied parole to Van Houten last year. Since then, a parole board has recommended his release, a decision subject to a five-month review process before going to Governor Gavin Newsom.
The judges wondered whether they would still have jurisdiction to rule if Newsom refused Van Houten's parole.
Rich Pfeiffer, Van Houten's lawyer, told the judges that they were not only competent but also required to decide, adding that no elected politician would ever accept parole. of Van Houten because of the infamy of the record.
"If the courts do not release Ms. Van Houten, she will never be released," Pfeiffer said. "Courts are empowered to make difficult decisions, and sometimes unpopular decisions, in order to enforce the law, which is why the courts exist, otherwise it becomes a rule of the crowd."
Deputy Attorney General Jill VanderBorght said the issue should be part of Newsom's decision. She stated that Pfeiffer's argument that it was unlikely that Van Houten would be released without a court decision was irrelevant.
"We are only looking at this unique case of cancellation of parole," she said. "We do not have to think about tomorrow or politics, in fact, the court should not."
The judges gave Pfeiffer and VanderBorght five days to argue the issue of jurisdiction. Judges have three months to decide on Van Houten's parole.
A parole board has recommended that Van Houten be released three times since 2016, considering that she was no longer a threat to society. Former Gov. Jerry Brown has blocked the first two recommendations and the third is heading to Newsom.
Courts generally may be reluctant to intervene in parole cases, said Samuel Pillsbury, a professor of criminal law at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
"It's very emotional," said Pillsbury. "Voters have decided that the governor should have a veto on this issue, so the courts would prefer this process to take place."
If the decision is up to the governor, Pillsbury recognizes that the battle of Van Houten is difficult.
"The Manson case is one of a kind," he said. "There is no other case of this kind regarding the number of people in California who feel this deeply, who have lived through it." All of the state and a great deal part of the nation still feel some trauma, and this makes it a very different case from the point of view of an elected. "
In refusing Van Houten's parole last year, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Ryan said it "would pose an unreasonable risk to society", citing brutal nature of the crimes.
During one of his parole hearings, Van Houten stated that these murders were the beginning of what Manson thought was an imminent war that he dubbed "Helter Skelter" after a song of Beatles, and that he had asked the group to prepare to fight and learn to be able to food to go underground and live in a hole in the desert.
Van Houten said she was traveling the California coast when her acquaintances drove her to Manson. She candidly described how she had joined several other members of the group to kill the LaBiancas, carve the body of Leno LaBianca and stain the blood of the couple on the walls.
Manson died of natural causes in 2017 in a California hospital while he was serving a life sentence.
___
Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP
[ad_2]
Source link