Los Angeles

Manson Follower to Ask Court to Overturn Brown Parole Denial

Leslie Van Houten has been in prison for more than four decades for her role in two killings

A lawyer for a Charles Manson follower who killed a California couple more than 40 years ago says he wants a court to overturn Gov. Jerry Brown's decision to deny her parole.

Attorney Rich Pfeiffer says he is filing a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus for 66-year-old Leslie Van Houten in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Pfeiffer says Van Houten has been a model prisoner and a parole board found she posed no threat to society.

He says denying her release solely because of the heinousness of the murders of Leno and Rosemary La Bianca would effectively change her prison sentence.

Brown denied parole for Van Houten saying she committed "extraordinarily brutal crimes" and failed to explain her transformation from an upstanding teen to a killer.

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