Fairness Demands Pratt’s Release

Lawyers for former Black Panther Elmer “Geronimo” Pratt will appear in court today for a bail hearing. Last month, an Orange County judge overturned Pratt’s 25-year-old murder conviction because he found that Pratt did not receive a fair trial. Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey expressed strong displeasure at the failure of the prosecution to tell Pratt’s lawyers during his trial that a key prosecution witness, a man who testified that Pratt had confessed the murder to him, was a police informant.

Pratt’s release from state prison following last month’s ruling should have been the end of this shamefully politicized affair. But Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, weighing both intense pressures from within his office to move ahead against Pratt and pressures from outside to immediately drop the case, chose to appeal Dickey’s ruling. If Dickey’s decision is upheld, as many expect, Garcetti would have to retry Pratt to keep him in prison. This time, however, with the credibility of one key witness impeached and another dead, the prosecution would have a far weaker case than in 1972.

Last week, after more than 25 years behind bars, Pratt was transferred from Mule Creek State Prison in Ione to an Orange County jail, where he awaits release pending Garcetti’s appeal. Garcetti is expected to support bail, and he should seek a reasonable one. Then we can hope that an appellate court sustains Dickey’s decision and finally gives the district attorney’s office the political cover it needs to let this sorry case quietly fade away.