( CNN ) -- Former Black Panther Elmer `` Geronimo '' Pratt , who was wrongly imprisoned for 27 years on a murder conviction , died Thursday in Tanzania , his former lawyer said . He was 63 . Stuart Hanlon , a San Francisco-based lawyer who helped overturn Pratt 's murder conviction , said he did not know the exact cause of death . Pratt died in a small village in Tanzania where he lived with his wife and child , Hanlon said . Hanlon called Pratt a `` true American , '' saying that he was an Army veteran who served two tours in Vietnam before joining the Black Panther Party . `` He could 've been a great leader . He was very charismatic , '' Hanlon said . `` His legacy is that he never gave up . He never got despondent or angry . '' Pratt 's conviction became a rallying cry for rights groups that said he had been framed for his strident activism during the turbulent civil rights era . Pratt was convicted for the 1968 murder of Caroline Olsen on a Santa Monica tennis court . He spent 27 years in prison before the conviction was overturned in 1997 after a judge ruled that prosecutors had concealed evidence . The victim 's husband , wounded during the robbery attempt , originally identified another man as the killer . But the jury was not informed of that , the judge said . Famed attorney Johnnie Cochran also helped in the legal battle to get Pratt released from prison . Pratt spoke at Cochran 's funeral in 2005 . After his release , Pratt told CNN that he held no bitterness about the many years he spent behind bars . `` I do n't think bitterness has a place . I 'm more understanding , '' Pratt said in a 1999 interview . `` Understanding does n't leave any room for bitterness or anger . '' Of the 27 years he spent in prison , Pratt said eight was in solitary confinement . He said his spirituality and love of music helped him through that period . `` My mantra was the blues . It would go through my head when I was going through my meditations , '' Pratt said . CNN 's Erica Henry contributed to this report .
Pratt was convicted of the 1995 murder of a California woman . The conviction was overturned in 1998 . Pratt said he was not bitter for the wrongful conviction .