Patty Hearst: I Won't Admit Guilt

Media heiress Patricia Hearst defended her pardon by former President Clinton, denouncing critics who said she should have been asked to make an admission of guilt for her role in a bank robbery in the 1970s.

Speaking on CNN's Larry King Live program Wednesday night, Hearst said those decrying the pardon, which include former prosecutors, are "obsessed" with the case.

"There is no possible reason to argue that I should have had to make an admission," Hearst said. "I told (Clinton officials) that I didn't want a pardon and I would withdraw my application if I had to make some admission of guilt. There is no requirement that an admission be made."

Hearst was among the 140 Americans pardoned by Clinton on his final day in office.

On Feb. 4, 1974, when she was a 19-year-old college student, Hearst was kidnapped by the radical Symbionese Liberation Army. She eventually joined the group and helped them rob a bank, but was captured, convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison.

She had served 21 months when President Carter commuted her sentence in January 1979. Her conviction remained on record until Mr. Clinton's pardon. Hearst has always maintained that she was brainwashed and was not responsible for her actions.

Hearst's grandfather was legendary newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.