Pratt’s Prison Guards Express Their Support

Arriving at Mule Creek State Prison on Tuesday for their first face-to-face visit with Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt since his murder conviction was overturned last week, attorneys Stuart Hanlon and Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. were not sure what to expect.

The last thing they expected was congratulations from guards at the Northern California prison where the former Black Panther Party leader had been serving a life sentence.

“It’s the first time I’ve been congratulated by prison guards,” Hanlon said in a telephone interview. “About 20 guards came up to us while we were there. Most of those who spoke to us were white. One said: ‘Normally we’re enemies. But this is a time to celebrate. This man deserves his freedom.’ ”

Many of the guards are Vietnam veterans, and they identified with Pratt, a decorated Vietnam veteran, Hanlon said.

“Numerous guards shook our hands and said they would be happy to write recommendations for Geronimo to be released on bail,” Hanlon said.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey will hear Pratt’s request for bail at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Santa Ana. Hanlon said guards from Mule Creek’s transportation unit offered to drive Pratt to Orange County for Tuesday’s hearing on their own time, rather than apply for the overtime they usually earn.

Until his lawyers arrived for a three-hour visit, Pratt was unaware that Dickey, who overturned his 25-year-old murder conviction on Thursday, had been assigned to hear pretrial motions in his case.

Hanlon and Cochran hope Pratt, who is still under indictment for murder but is eligible for bail, will be released on his own recognizance. Dickey’s ruling left Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti with three options: Appeal, retry Pratt or drop the case.

Hanlon said Pratt was “excited and focused” at Tuesday’s meeting. “We talked about his plans for his future, which clearly involve seeing his 94-year-old mother in Louisiana. He also wants to go to his son’s junior high school graduation June 14.”

Hanlon said Pratt expressed no bitterness or anger about being imprisoned for 25 years for a crime he has steadfastly maintained he did not commit.

Pratt was convicted in 1972 of murdering teacher Caroline Olsen and critically wounding her husband during a 1968 robbery on a Santa Monica tennis court. Pratt has always said that he was in Oakland when the crime occurred and that the FBI knew he was innocent because the bureau had him under surveillance.

Dickey overturned his conviction on the grounds that prosecutors had withheld key evidence that could have led to a different result at Pratt’s murder trial.