At the same time Hoover was in power and developed the "Security Portfolio"
and attacked civil rights movements in the United States, a Black Panther
named Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt was framed for a murder he didn't commit by
the FBI.
: Court TV
:
: Judge Dickey overturned the conviction last month, ruling that
: prosecutors failed to tell the defense that the key witness against
: Pratt was an infiltrator and paid informant for the FBI and police.
: *** This primary "witness" had claimed Pratt confessed!!! ***
* "Former Black Panther Leader is Freed on Bail"
* By B. Drummond Ayres, Jr., The New York Times, June 11 1997
*
* After 27 years in prison, Elmer Pratt was freed on $25,000 bail.
*
* The prosecutor's chief witness [now deceased], testified Mr Pratt had
* confessed to him that he was the killer.
*
* The prosecutors did not tell the jury that Julius Butler was also a rival
* of Mr Pratt for power within the Black Panther organization, and was a
* convicted felon who had been recruited to infiltrate the Panthers.
It's 1997 now.
Guess what the Government now says about this case:
* "Former Black Panther Leader is Freed on Bail"
*
* "We have filed a motion of appeal." ---prosecutor George Palmer
That's right: they still want him in jail anyway.
Things are still the same as when Hoover was in cha