In Re Pratt

Introduction

In 1972 following a protracted trial a jury convicted petitioner/defendant Elmer Gerard Pratt (hereinafter defendant and/or Pratt) of the *802 murder in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 187) of Caroline Olsen in Santa Monica on December 18, 1968 (known as the tennis court murder); of two counts of robbery in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 211); and of assault with intent to commit murder on Kenneth Olsen (Pen. Code, § 217). The jury also found he was armed with a deadly weapon (pistol) in connection with each offense. The judgment of conviction was affirmed on appeal by division four of this district in an unpublished opinion (2 Crim. No. 22504). The California State Supreme Court unanimously denied defendant’s petition for a hearing.

Defendant Pratt is presently serving a life sentence in state prison for the murder of Caroline Olsen and the commission of the other crimes of which he was convicted. By this petition for writ of habeas corpus he seeks his release from prison essentially on the grounds that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports obtained through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act disclose that key prosecution witness Julius C.…

respectfully but vigorously dissent from the judgment of my colleagues. In my_view they misperceive the essential issue raised by *888 this petition. Whether or not the evidence which was presented at the trial points unerringly to the defendant’s guilt is not the fundamental is *889 sue, because in any trial if an effective defense is throttled there can be no conclusion other than one of guilt. The basic immediate question be *890 fore this court is whether the petitioner was afforded due process in his trial; that is, was the conviction procedure, when examined as a whole, fundamentally fair?

A trial which is not fundamentally fair is no trial at all. It is a nonsequitur to argue that a defendant is obviously guilty if it is an estab *891 lished fact that the defendant was not afforded a.fair trial. This case, like all cases, invites the question, can any defendant feel assured, no matter how apparent his guilt may appear from an examination of the prosecution evidence that he is, under our system, afforded due process? If the answer is not affirmative, if the procedural methodology adopted in our trials lacks fundamental fairness, then the price we pay for a conviction is…

HANSON (Thaxton), J. —

In 1972 following a protracted trial a jury convicted petitioner/defendant Elmer Gerard Pratt (hereinafter defendant and/or Pratt) of the murder in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 187) of Caroline Olsen in Santa Monica on December 18, 1968 (known as the tennis court murder); of two counts of robbery in the first degree (Pen. Code, § 211); and of assault with intent to commit murder on Kenneth Olsen (Pen. Code, § 217). The jury also found he was armed with a deadly weapon (pistol) in connection with each offense. The judgment of conviction was affirmed on appeal by division four of this district in an unpublished opinion (2 Crim. No. 22504). The California State Supreme Court unanimously denied defendant's petition for a hearing.

Defendant Pratt is presently serving a life sentence in state prison for the murder of Caroline Olsen and the commission of the other crimes of which he was convicted. By this petition for writ of habeas corpus he seeks his release from prison essentially on the grounds that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports obtained through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act disclose that key prosecution witness Julius C.…