Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt (Hardcover)

by Jack Olsen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
One part Kafka and one part Orwell, the story of Geronimo Pratt's conviction and imprisonment, for a murder committed while he was 350 miles away from the crime scene and under FBI surveillance, is a textbook case of abuse of the American criminal justice system for political ends. Raised in small-town Louisiana, Pratt served two distinguished stints in Vietnam (earning a Purple Heart) before becoming a leader of the Black Panthers in Los Angeles. Visible and articulate, he was targeted by the FBI's counterintelligence programAand soon was set up and convicted for a highly publicized 1968 Santa Monica murder. At trial, where he was represented by the now-famous Johnnie Cochran, evidence was suppressed (and later destroyed), witnesses were intimidated and perjury was suborned. His case became an international cause c?l?breAbut the details of Pratt's struggles have not, until now, been readily available. Olsen tells Pratt's story with a compelling narrative grace. Drawing from a mountain of court records and other documentary evidenceAas well as on the memories of Pratt, his family and his lawyers (both Cochran and his young colleague, Stuart Hanlon)AOlsen takes us from the early days of Pratt's imprisonment, through his appeals, and up to the day when his conviction was finally overturned and he went free. (By then, he'd served more than 26 years in prison, several of them in solitary confinement.) Rigorously researched, skillfully organized and passionately written, the book lays bare long-obscured facts about Pratt's case, as well as ugly truths about the conditions of prison and a grave miscarriage of justice. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Olsen is a journalist and prolific author who writes in the segmented style of a playwright as he chronicles the life and times of Geronimo Pratt, a former Black Panther Party leader who was spurned by his peers and framed by the authorities for a murder he did not commit. Pratt served 27 years behind bars until a persistent and determined coalition of clergy and lawyers (including the famed Johnnie L. Cochran) was able to dig up enough fresh evidence to spring him. The book focuses on aspects of the Pratt case that are common to the imprisoned innocent: the contamination of secondhand confession testimony and inflated eyewitness identifications, in this case extracted by bad cops and overzealous prosecutors. Added to this mix is the notorious status of the Black Panthers in 1968. As Olsen jumps from scene to scene, the egregious excesses and misinformation campaigns of the FBI, the LAPD, and the district attorney and the federal government's inter-agency effort to discredit the Black Panther movement become manifest. The book is a classic expos of how an innocent's rights can be swept under the rug of politics and power. Recommended for public and academic libraries.DPhilip Y. Blue, NY State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Law Lib., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1 edition (September 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385493673
• ISBN-13: 978-0385493673
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #856,939 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pratt book is dead-on, September 26, 2000

By	Dan Reed (Oakland, ca USA) - See all my reviews

I crossed paths with author Jack Olsen a few years ago, when he was researching his book, "Hastened to the Grave: The Gypsy Murder Investigation," about a suspected serial murder case I covered as a reporter. He interviewed me, checked my documents, and came up with many more on his own. I was impressed by his thoroughness, and when I learned he was writing about framed former Black Panther Party leader Geronimo Pratt, I decided to not only pick up the book as a good backgrounder on the case, but to write a profile for my newspaper, The San Jose Mercury News (the piece has yet to be published), about how Pratt's been spending his time as a free man after years behind bars as a political prisoner, convicted wrongfully by a government set-up. Evidence now strongly suggests he was framed because of his radical politics.

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Morgan City, LA, Pratt's hometown, to interview him. He's read Olsen's book and said its facts were dead-on, a good testimony of accuracy for a work of non-fiction. I also found no discrepencies when I interviewed other key players.

I live in Oakland, where the Panthers got their start. But the story's chilling message should resonate far beyond my community -- it's a story about how unchecked local and federal police authority corrupt democracy, about judges too frightened of the FBI to carry out their duties, about a man unbent by his time in "the hole" -- a hellish box where Pratt spent eight of his prison years -- and of the selfless lawyers who fought to win his freedom.

Defense attorney Johnnie Cochran of O.J. Simpson fame was one of Pratt's two key lawyers throughout this time. And, even though my belief is that Simpson was guilty, I can see -- after knowing that Cochran had to battle his way through government conspiracies and coverups in the Pratt case -- why he might actually think Simpson was framed.

Great book, important book. And, what the hell, it's also a fun read.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The truth of the american justice system, September 23, 2000

By	STUART HANLON (SAN FRANCISCO, CA United States) - See all my reviews

The story of geronimo pratt and his tragic and finally triumphant journey through the american criminal justice system is a classic story of the power of the human spirit and the political and racial injustice of our criminal justice system. I know something about geronimo's case and our criminal justice system: I have been a criminal defense attorney for 26 years and one of geronimo's attorneys for 28 years, beginning working on his case while in law school.Jack Olsen has captured the truth, horror and ultimate victory of this case . The story is not just geronimos; it is the story of many people who fought for his freedom beause of their belief in justice. The book should be read by everyone who is interested in our legal and political system; it should be read in high schools and colleges and law schools so that young people can get an honest view of what can happen in this country when police get too much power, when we let someones political views or race determine whether they are a "criminal".Jack Olsen worked for three years to create this book. The result is a brilliant book that is engrossing and that once again proves that truth can be stranger and ultimately more uplifting than fiction.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last man Standing Stands Alone, November 22, 2000

By	T.W Trotter (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

When the Black Panther Party for Self Defense burst upon the social and political scene in 1967 it was populated by some of the most colourful and frightening personalities ever to emerge in American history. In the maelstrom that followed "Panthers" would die, police would be shot and a nation would be confronted with the image of black leather-clad "Panthers" Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, berets askew, shouting "All power to the people" and brandishing guns. Black Panther "Minister of Information" Eldridge Cleaver would travel to Moscow, Libya and Syria seeking support for "the black people's struggle in the US" and the FBI's Herbert Hoover would launch his organization's most secret, widespread and extralegal program; COINTELPRO, in an attempt to destroy the "threat" of black nationalism.

At the virtual epicentre of all of this stood Geronimo Pratt, a soldier in the Black Panthers who not only played a key role in the development of the party and its subsequent notoriety but perhaps also paid the steepest price for his involvement. In Last Man Standing-The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt author Jack Olsen outlines Pratt's involvement in the Black Panther Party, chronicles some of the day to day realities of living and working within "The Party" and then details how Pratt was accused and ultimately convicted of the murder of a woman during a robbery. The bulk of the book is then concerned with the efforts of Pratt's ever-changing legal team (including the infamous Johnnie Cochran) to prove Pratt's innocence.

Last Man Standing is a well-written, well documented book which manages to maintain its objectivity while discussing a subject that obviously has significant political overtones. Olsen deserves credit for his refusal to engage in hyperbole and for refusing to gloss over the less attractive aspects of the Black Panther Party (BPP). Olsen, and by extension Pratt himself don't make apologies for what the BPP was, or what was done in its name. But then again the book isn't really so much about the BPP as it is about one man (Pratt) and his struggle to clear his name. In recounting this struggle the book really comes in to its own. Olsen manages to compress a long timeline and a plethora of events into a compelling and informative narrative without any obvious oversights. More importantly, in his discussion of the people on the "other side" of the equation Olsen -like, we are told, Pratt himself- shows compassion and objectivity. Not once does Olsen sink to the crass generalizations and petty characterizations which are so often characteristic of books which chronicle the struggle of individuals against "the establishment"

Make no mistake however, "the establishment" is present in this book. The reader is guided through the labyrinthine court proceedings not only against the charge itself but also against the California Department of Corrections for its treatment of Pratt while in prison, and ultimately the FBI for its surreptitious involvement throughout the case. Much of what is documented will shock some readers, for it details much of what can happen when a system is abused and when justice (or injustice) becomes personalized. In this too Olsen's Last Man Standing is laudably objective. There are no villains in this book as there are no heroes, just ordinary people with vastly different agendas. What does emerge is a portrait of Geronimo Pratt as man who has accepted his situation but fought to determine his fate with a grace which made him worthy of being cast as a hero. A portrait which is bordered with descriptions of the varied cast of Pratt supporters that has assembled over the years- a portrait which Olsen creates with unsparing accuracy.

Last man Standing- The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt is an excellent narrative history which engages the reader early on, propels them through a whirlwind of violence, idealism, conspiracy and rage and leaves them with a greater understanding of the motivations of the people involved; in a case that is one of the last vestiges of the explosive decade of the sixties. This book is an excellent examination of Geronimo Pratt's struggle for freedom and goes a long way to redressing the current load of needlessly vitriolic books dealing with the Black Panther Party, its members and the government response to them. Well worth the price, this is an informative, entertaining book which should be read by everyone.