The State - News from Aug. 4, 1988

Convicted killer Elmer (Geronimo) Pratt lost his eighth bid for parole after a three-member panel called the former Black Panther leader “a danger to the public.” Pratt, 40, refused to attend the hearing at San Quentin Prison and reporters were barred. Stuart Hanlon, Pratt’s attorney, said his client declined to be present because he believed the hearing panel would not treat him fairly. “This was outrageous,” Hanlon added, referring to the media being barred. “This was like a Star Chamber hearing because you, the public, were excluded.” Pratt is serving a life term for the 1968 murder and $30 robbery of Carolyn Olson, 27, who was shot to death on a Santa Monica tennis court. In announcing the decision, Donald Rudloff of the state Board of Prison Terms said: “Mr. Pratt was not suitable for parole at the present time . . . he would be a danger to the public . . . a threat.” There was no explanation for barring the media.