Prosecutors to Oppose Pratt’s Bid for Hearing
Former Black Panther Party leader Elmer “Geronimo†Pratt’s request for a new trial is speculative and groundless, prosecutors said Monday, revealing for the first time that they will oppose a hearing on evidence that Pratt’s supporters say points to his innocence.
A hearing would only be necessary for the limited purpose of allowing Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael A. Cowell to review unedited copies of FBI documents in chambers with neither side present, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Brentford J. Ferreira.
Pratt’s defense attorneys scoffed at the offer, saying they distrust the FBI, based on their experience with the bureau in this case.
“The FBI is part of this whole prosecution,†said Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., one of Pratt’s attorneys. “We look a little askance at their offer [to provide documents].â€
Pratt was convicted of killing Caroline Olsen on a Santa Monica tennis court during a 1968 robbery that netted $18. He says he was in Oakland at the time of the shooting, and a retired FBI agent says Pratt was framed as part of the bureau’s infamous counterintelligence program called COINTELPRO. He has been in custody for 26 years.
The California Supreme Court ruled last week that the Superior Court has jurisdiction to hear Pratt’s request for a new trial, and Cowell gave prosecutors until June 18 to file papers responding to Pratt’s petition.
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