Leslie Van Houten, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson who participated in murders on his orders, is entitled to parole after serving more than 50 years behind bars, a California appeals court ruled Tuesday, with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to refuse her release.

Van Houten, 73, has been recommended for parole five times since 2016, but all were rejected by Newsom or his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown. Tuesday’s decision by the 2nd District Court of Appeal is the first time a court has rejected a governor’s denial of parole to a Manson follower.

In 2020, the Board of Parole Hearings recommended Van Houten for parole, saying she “posed no unreasonable risk to public safety” and expressed remorse for her crimes. Newsom rejected her parole in 2022, saying Van Houten would pose an “unreasonable danger” if released.

Newsom wrote in his denial that there were inconsistencies between Van Houten’s recent statements and hers during the summer 1969 murders, suggesting gaps in Mrs. Van Houten’s insight or candor, or both.

Full Coverage: The Manson Murders 50 Years Later

Judges of the Los Angeles Court of Appeals wrote that Newsom’s dismissal “doesn’t take into account the decades of therapy, self-help programming, and reflection that Van Houten has endured over the past 50 years.”

Newsom can still appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.

Van Houten is serving a life sentence for aiding members of the “family” Manson in the August 1969 murder of Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary. Van Houten, who was 19 at the time, and the others LaBiancas fatally smeared their blood on the walls.

Manson and his followers were sentenced to death in 1971, but those sentences were commuted to life in prison after the death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 1972.

Van Houten’s case was overturned on appeal; she was later convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

In 2017, Manson died of natural causes while serving a life sentence.