But in granting her petition, the appellate judges wrote that Newsom's conclusion "fails to account for the decades of therapy, self-help programming, and reflection Van Houten has undergone in the past 50 years." It marks the first time a court has overruled a governor's denial of parole to a Manson follower, according to the Los Angeles Times. Van Houten was convicted of fatally stabbing grocery owner Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in their Los Angeles home on Aug. 10, 1969. Van Houten's 1971 original conviction and death sentence were initially overturned on appeal, but she was retried, convicted and sentenced to prison in 1978. Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Gavin Newsom, Leslie Van Houten, Charles Manson's, Van Houten, Newsom, Jerry Brown, Van Houten's, Van, Manson, Sharon Tate, Leno LaBianca, Rosemary, Tate, Roman Polanski, Abigail Folger, hairstylist Jay Sebring, Gary Hinman, Donald, Shorty, Shea, Steve Gorman, Daniel Trotta, Leslie Adler Organizations: ANGELES, Court, California Supreme, Los Angeles Times, Thomson Locations: California, Los Angeles, Angeles, Europe, Carlsbad , California