Posted on 07/06/2010 7:19:15 AM PDT by MissTed
Leslie Van Houten, the one-time Charles Manson follower long seen as the most likely of his ex-acolytes to win freedom someday, faces her 19th parole hearing on Tuesday with a new lawyer and new case law which may give her the best chance yet for release.
Even if there is a finding of suitability for parole at the hearing, freedom would not be immediate. The entire state parole board would review the decision within 120 days and it would then be submitted to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a final ruling.
Van Houten, 60, remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Women at Frontera, the same prison where another Manson follower, Patricia Krenwinkle, is imprisoned. Susan Atkins, the third woman convicted of murder in the crimes directed by cult leader Manson, died in prison last year after parole officials denied her dying request for freedom.
Van Houten last appeared before a parole board in 2007. Her chances for parole are enhanced by the fact that she has been discipline free since her incarceration in the early 1970s, has positive psychological reports and has been active in self-help groups at the prison including "Golden Girls," a group for elderly women inmates.
She has a new lawyer, Brandie Devall, who told The Associated Press she will refer to rulings by the California Supreme Court in 2008 and 2009 affecting standards for parole.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
rot
Sad. All these girls came from broken homes. Doesn’t excuse what they did, but it is still sad.
Ms Van Houten may now be a decent person and would likely be a nonviolent citizen. However since the La Bianca’s are still dead she can rot behind bars for all I care.
agreed
Why does parole even exist for violent criminals?
How about the innocent people she is going to be living next to once she gets out? Do they get a say? The crimes she committed are unforgiveable and she was given the death penalty. In fact this is the exact reason why we have the death penalty because eventually these monsters can be let out of prison.
The only reason she’s still breathing air is because of an activist Supreme Court. If there were actual justice in this country should would have been worm food nearly 40 years ago.
She is the only one of the bunch that was “easy of the eyes.”
But a total psycho.
She would acknowledge a life sentence as a just and deserved punishment for her crimes and she would be resolved to pay the full penalty.
The fact that she thinks she deserves parole tells us something.
The fact that she fought for a new trial just six years after her original sentencing tells us something.
The fact that she was caught in an escape plot in 1981 also tells us something.
She really doesn't think she belongs in prison.
This also total BS!!!!
“Charles “Tex” Watson (Tried Separately)
In August 1969, Watson became the principal killer in the Tate-LaBianca murders. Announcing his arrival at the Tate residence, Watson said, “I am the Devil and I’m here to do the Devil’s business............”
...He married a Norwegian wife and has three children.”
Boy, really a rough life for this guy at the taxpayer’s expense!
hate me, but its time to let these women go home to be senior citizens......they were drug crazed cult followers....
Sheesh....
Why were all these people not in the Gas Chamber long ago??
One would normally assume that a sentence of “life without parole” would be a viable choice. It’s usually offered to a perp for confessing, sometimes revealing details of where the body is, etc, and also spares the sate the huge expense of a capital trial. Everyone who advocates it forgets that in oder for it to be a viable alternative that a defendant will jump at, there has to be an active death penalty statute, with a reasonable time frame for judgement. In Florida, it works well...and we are also executing the worst..
Sorry, but she's a murderer (or murderess). She and the others should have received the death penalty and saved the taxpayers some money.
Did Watson get parole?
They have to parole her. Obama will need all the votes he can get in 2012.
What's next, time off to appear on Dancing with the Stars?
This bitch (Van Houten) was an active participant in this massacre and there's nothing to suggest she should be shown any compassion or consideration.
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