Leslie Hope Abramson was born on October 6,1943 and is a retired American criminal defense attorney best known for her role in the legal defense of Lyle and Erik Menendez.
13 Facts About Leslie Abramson
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In 1970, Leslie Abramson was admitted to the State Bar of California.
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Leslie Abramson began her career in the Los Angeles County Public Defender's office, where she worked for six years.
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Leslie Abramson entered private practice as a defense attorney in 1976, and developed a reputation as a fierce advocate for her clients.
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In 1988, Leslie Abramson was able to obtain a verdict of manslaughter with a sentence of probation, rather than murder, for 17-year old Arnel Salvatierra, who had killed his father.
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In 1990, Leslie Abramson won the acquittal of Dr Khalid Parwez, a Pakistani-born gynecologist accused of strangling and dismembering his 11-year-old son, presenting an alibi for Parwez, and arguing that Parwez's brother, who had returned to Pakistan, was the likely culprit.
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Leslie Abramson gained national attention in the early 1990s, when she represented Erik Menendez in his trial for the murder of his parents, again presenting parental abuse as the defense for the crime alleged.
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Leslie Abramson stirred controversy when William Vicary, Erik's psychiatrist, testified that she had him delete and rewrite passages of his notes.
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In 1997, Leslie Abramson published a book, The Defense Is Ready: Life in the Trenches of Criminal Law.
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Leslie Abramson resigned from representing Spector over conflicts between them, he then went on to be convicted of murder with different counsel.
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Leslie Abramson was married to a pharmacist whom she divorced in 1969, with whom she had a daughter, Laine.
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Leslie Abramson married Los Angeles Times reporter Tim Rutten and the couple adopted a son.
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Rutten and Leslie Abramson remained close until he died in September 2022 after suffering a fall in his Alhambra, California home.