YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsTrials  Lawyer Presses 23-Year
Battle on Behalf of 'Geronimo' Pratt   Since he showed up at San
Quentin prison 23 years ago, a third-year law student offering
to help with appeals, San Francisco attorney Stuart Hanlon has
been the constant in former Black Panther Party leader Elmer
"Geronimo" Pratt's persistent efforts to overturn his murder
conviction.  Other attorneys have come and gone, as have various
celebrities, elected officials, community activists and members
of the clergy--all of them convinced that Pratt was the target
of political prosecution.  But Hanlon, equal parts leprechaun
and mensch, has spent half his 48 years doggedly pursuing
freedom for Pratt--more than two decades of failed appeals,
adverse judgments and denied writs.  Now, with final arguments
scheduled to begin today in Pratt's latest and most promising
bid to overturn his conviction, Hanlon should be buoyant. But
his optimism is tempered by grim personal reality: On Monday,
his wife will begin a hosp