Last Man Standing: The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt

by Jack Olsen

Overview

Jack Olsen's Last Man Standing is the gripping story of Geronimo Pratt, war hero and community leader, who was framed by the FBI in one of the greatest travesties of justice in American history.

Geronimo Pratt did not commit the murder for which he served twenty-seven nightmarish years. As a UCLA student, though, he had led the Los Angeles Chapter of the Black Panther Party, and became a target of the FBI. Here is the spellbinding saga of Pratt, his heroic lawyers, Johnnie Cochran and Stuart Hanlon, and the Reverend James McCloskey, who overcame all the odds to bring the truth to light and free Geronimo.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385493680
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/06/2001
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	463,757
Product dimensions:	5.17(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Jack Olsen is the author of 31 books. He lives on an island in Puget Sound.

Editorial Reviews

"Much more than [a] compelling story of justice tragically perverted and eventually triumphant."
—The Denver Post

"[A] book that makes me grateful to its author, a lasting testimonial, and a document born of the same enduring passion that infuses all of Olsen's work."
—David Guterson

"[A] page turner, more engrossing than any courtroom thriller because it is true."
—The Oregonian

From the Publisher

If you've ever had any doubt that the scales of justice are sometimes unbalanced, then you need to read Olsen’s new biography. Subtitled The Tragedy and Triumph of Geronimo Pratt, Olsen tells the story of a classic frame-up in the corrupt Los Angeles and federal judicial systems of one of the 20th-century's most famous political prisoners. Readers will also find the parallel stories of a novice white lawyer (Stuart Hanlon) and a flashy veteran black attorney (Johnnie Cochran) who become allies to champion Pratt's cause. Together they lead a team of believers on a fight that lasted twenty-five years.

Black Issues Book Review

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 program--and 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 bre--but 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 evidence--as well as on the memories of Pratt, his family and his lawyers (both Cochran and his young colleague, Stuart Hanlon)--Olsen 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 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

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.--Philip Y. Blue, NY State Supreme Court Criminal Branch Law Lib., New York Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Library Journal

Olsen, the author of 31 books, is a former bureau chief for and has written for numerous magazines. Here he turns his energetic reporting skills to the story of Geronimo Pratt, a member of the Black Panther Party who was targeted by the FBI to be "neutralized" in 1968. Pratt was imprisoned for a murder he did not commit and spent eight years in solitary confinement before he saw justice through the efforts of defense attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. and others. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

With Last Man Standing, Olsen returns to the wrongful-conviction theme, at a juncture when it has become accepted as the conventional wisdom. His return to the theme is welcome: Predator was a mighty good book, but Last Man Standing is a great book, as compelling and thorough as any wrongful-conviction book I have read - and I have read most of them...Olsen's book goes where no other journalist had gone. —Seattle Times

Steve Weinberg