The State - News from April 29, 1985

Elmer (Geronimo) Pratt, a former Black Panther Party leader in Southern California, has been refused parole, James Hoover of the Board of Prison Terms said. He said the three-member hearing panel denied Pratt a parole date because of the nature of his crimes and because Pratt has refused to participate in psychiatric evaluations since his last parole hearing in 1982. Pratt, 37, was convicted of first-degree murder, assault and robbery in the shooting death of Carolyn Olsen, 27, and the wounding of her husband, Kenneth, as they played tennis on Dec. 18, 1968, before he joined the Black Panthers. He was the party’s deputy defense minister when he was arrested in 1971. Pratt will have another hearing in two years to determine if he is eligible for release from San Quentin Prison.