I don't know about all that. I only point it out in the interest of accuracy. People should know what they are talking about when they speak or write, in this case.
I'm not a soft on crime guy. Van Houten should have gotten the death penalty. Before you say she did, no she didn't. Her original conviction was overturned. In her third trial she was convicted of felony murder and given 7 years to life. Second trail was a hung jury.
I'm pro death penalty. In fact I think it should be expanded. For example, if a person walks into a convenience store and points a gun at the clerk, that person just committed a death penalty offense. The only way to reduce violent crime is to execute violent criminals.
Leslie Van Houten held down the La Bianca woman while she was being stabbed. She certainly participated willingly and with intent therefore prison is exactly where Van Houten should remain for the rest of her life.
She was originally on death row but her sentence got commuted to life in prison (California getting rid of the death penalty). Sh needs to stay wher she is and be grateful she has life.
I spent 25 years in uniform working in NY State's prison system. New York has had on and mostly off death penalties. Serial murderer Lemuel Smith strangled a female Correctional Officer trainee to death at Green Haven prison in 1981, put her in a 55 gallon drum, and placed the drum in a prison dumpster. It was taken to the outside dump. Once they realized she was missing, they searched the facility, and it was search dogs that led them to the prison dumpster. They found her at the dump site. Smith was already serving time for 5 murders. This was his 6th. He was convicted because they matched his bite mark to the teeth marks on the officer's breasts. He received the death penalty, but he successfully challenged his sentence, and the Judge declared New York State's death penalty was unconstitutional. Smith spent 20 years in segregation. Whether he remains in segregation at this time is unknown, but he's currently at Wende Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison.
I was working at Auburn prison at the time of her death, and several staff and supervisors attended her funeral. Her husband was also an officer working at Clinton Correctional Facility at the time, where they were living at the time. They had three children. Many years later he was promoted to Captain, and worked at my facility. The criminal justice system is broke, and has been broken for a very long time. Nobody does the time for the actual crime they committed anymore. There is way too much plea bargaining taking place.