Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: James Earl Ray Dies > NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- James Earl Ray, the petty > criminal who confessed to assassinating Martin Luther > King Jr., then recanted and spent decades seeking a > trial, died today. He was 70. > > Ray, who was serving a 99-year prison sentence for the > 1968 slaying, died this morning of kidney failure and > complications from liver disease, said his brother, > Jerry Ray. He had been hospitalized repeatedly since > late 1996. > > By pleading guilty in March 1969, Ray avoided the > possibility of a conviction at trial and a death > sentence. He then argued for years that he was coerced > into making the plea. > > His attempt to get a trial drew an unlikely coalition > that included his family as well as King's family and > other civil rights leaders who believe King was the > victim of a murder conspiracy, not a lone man. > > ``America will never have the benefit of Mr. Ray's > trial, which would have produced new revelations about > the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as > establish the facts concerning Mr. Ray's innocence,'' > Coretta Scott King, the slain civil rights leader's > wife, said shortly after Ray's death. > > Wayne Chastain, one of Ray's lawyers, agreed: ``We > still think he's innocent. ... History will have to > write the final verdict,'' Chastain said today. > > William Gibbons, the lead state prosecutor in Memphis, > said Ray's legal petitions aimed at getting his guilty > plea thrown out are now over. > > ``About the only thing I can say is I believe the > history books will accurately record that James Earl > Ray was the killer of Dr. King,'' Gibbons said. > > The Rev. Joseph Lowery, a co-founder of King's Southern > Christian Leadership Conference, said he never believed > Ray was smart enough to plan the assassination alone. > > Dexter King, one of the slain civil rights leader's > four children, met with Ray in 1997 at Riverbend > Maximum Security Institution in Nashville and said he > no longer believed Ray killed his father. > > But prosecutors cited the evidence against Ray and > noted that courts had repeatedly upheld the guilty > plea. > > It was 30 years ago this month when King was shot while > standing on a second-floor balcony of the Lorraine > Motel in Memphis. He was in town to support striking > sanitation workers. > > The April 4, 1968 assassination touched off race riots > in more than 100 cities and set off one of the biggest > manhunts in U.S. history. > > Ray, a fugitive from a Missouri prison where he was > serving time for robbery, was staying in a flophouse > near the Lorraine at the time of the assassination. He > had a lengthy criminal record, including armed robbery, > burglary, forgery and unauthorized use of a motor > vehicle. > > He fled the city shortly after the shooting and was > captured in London two months later. > > When he pleaded guilty the following year, he agreed to > a detailed description of how investigators said the > crime happened. > > Prosecutor Phil M. Canale Jr. said there was no > evidence of a conspiracy. He did not outline a motive > for the killing or accuse Ray of being a racist. > > Even though he had told the judge he understood the > plea couldn't be appealed, Ray began trying to take it > back three days later. He claimed he was set up by a > shadowy gun dealer he met in Montreal and knew only as > Raoul, and said he was off changing a tire when the > shooting happened. Authorities have never established > any connection between Raoul and the slaying, and > numerous courts said there was no evidence anyone else > was involved. No one else was ever charged. > > In a report this March, state prosecutors in Memphis > said the person identified by Ray as Raoul existed but > had nothing to do with the killing. His name was not > released. Prosecutors said the man was in his home city > working when King was shot. > > The U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations > concluded in 1978 that Ray was the killer but a group > of racial bigots in St. Louis, reportedly with a > $50,000 bounty on King's head, might have been > involved, too. > > The House committee issued a report on the killing but > its investigative files are sealed until the year 2029. > Civil rights groups have lobbied for those records to > be opened. > > Ray's last legal effort concentrated on tests he wanted > conducted on the rifle that prosecutors say was the > murder weapon. It had been purchased by Ray and was > found near the murder scene moments after King was > shot, with Ray's fingerprints on it. But Ray claimed it > was placed there to frame him. > > Ballistics tests by the FBI and a congressional > committee in the 1970s failed to prove beyond a > scientific doubt that the rifle was the murder weapon, > though King was killed with a similar gun. > > Ray's lawyers argued that more sensitive tests > developed since the '70s might show the gun was not the > murder weapon. But tests that were undertaken after a > court ruling in 1997 proved to be inconclusive, too. > > The efforts to gain a trial were dealt a severe blow > this March 6 when Criminal Court Judge Joe Brown, who > allowed the gun tests and made other rulings favorable > to Ray, was removed from the case. The state Court of > Criminal Appeals found he appeared biased in Ray's > favor. A replacement judge was not appointed. > > Ray had been in poor health, suffering most notably > from cirrhosis of the liver believed caused by > hepatitis, which he apparently contracted during a > blood transfusion after being stabbed by black inmates > in 1981. > > Funeral arrangements weren't immediately announced, but > earlier this year Jerry Ray said his brother wished to > be cremated and his ashes flown to Ireland. > -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
