Geronomo ji Jaga (Pratt) (1948–)

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Former political prisoner Geronimo Pratt: ‘There's no time to be divided’
By John Parker, Workers World, 24 July 1997. On May 29, after 27 years, Geronimo Pratt was granted a new trial. Since then he has been touring the country speaking. Speakers at a July 11 event sponsored by the New African Liberation Front welcome Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt.
Judge grants Geronimo Pratt new trial
By Barbara Jean Hope, People's Weekly World, 7 June 1997. As a victim of the FBI's COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program) which targeted groups such as the Black Panthers, Pratt was convicted of the December 1968 slaying of a Santa Monica school teacher. On May 29 former Black Panther Party member Elmer ‘Geronimo’ Pratt won the right to a new trial.
After Nearly 30 Years, a Black Panther Case Challenges Los Angeles
By Don Terry, New York Times, 20 July 1997. Pratt says he was framed for the murder by the authorities because he dared to stand up for his people as the leader of the Black Panther Party in Southern California. Lawyer Johnnie Cochran thought his 24-year-old client, a Vietnam War hero, was being paranoid. After all, this was the United States of America.
D.A. appeals decision to release ex-Black Panther
By Edward J. Boyer, Los Angeles Times, 31 January 1998. Prosecutors challenge Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey's decision that led to the former Black Panther Party leader's release on bail.
Crucial information 27 years too late for Black Panther leader
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, 1 July 1998. The Californian State's failure to disclose crucial information about a key prosecution witness in the trial of Geronimo ji Jaga (Pratt) should result in the reversal of his conviction and finally put an end to 27 years of injustice.
Geronimo Ji Jaga: Court finally abandons attempt to frame up former Black Panther
By Monica Moorehead, Workers World, 4 March 1999. Geronimo ji Jaga (formerly Pratt) won an important legal battle on Feb. 17 when The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said they would not seek a retrial of ji Jaga for a 1968 murder.
Framed Black Panther spent 27 years in jail
By Dan Whitcomb, Reuters, 23 October 2000. Geronimo Pratt does not brood about his 27 years behind bars—or about the evidence his lawyers found showing he was framed for a crime he never committed, possibly because late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover wanted the Black Panther leader neutralized.
Last Man tells compelling story of broken system
By Steve Weinberg, special to The Seattle Times and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 3 November 2000. Author Jack Olsen of Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt chose a high-profile case for his new book on wrongful conviction. Pratt had been in the news since shortly after a 1968 murder. Because Pratt was widely known as a leader of the Black Panther Party, he was a target.