DATE=12/9/1999
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=KING CONSPIRACY
NUMBER=5-44951
BYLINE=MICHAEL LELAND
DATELINE=CHICAGO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A jury in the (Southern) U-S city of Memphis,
Tennessee, has found the 1968 assassination of U-S
civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., was the
result of a conspiracy. The verdict came at the end
of a wrongful death suit filed by the King family
against the owner of a Memphis cafe. But, as we hear
from V-O-A's Michael Leland, the verdict is not likely
to result in any criminal charges.
TEXT: Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot and
killed on April 4, 1968, as he stood on the balcony of
his motel room in Memphis. James Earl Ray confessed
to the killing, but later recanted his confession and
tried unsuccessfully to win his freedom from prison
until his death last year. Many conspiracy theorists,
and the King family itself, have long believed the
civil rights leader's murder was the result of a
conspiracy. On Wednesday, a Memphis jury agreed. It
ruled cafe owner Loyd Jowers and others - including
governmental agencies - were part of a conspiracy to
assassinate Dr. King.
In 1993, Mr. Jowers said in a television interview he
had hired a Memphis police officer to kill Dr. King
from the bushes of his cafe, which was located across
the street from the motel where Dr. King was slain.
He said he was paid to do so by a local grocery store
owner with Mafia connections.
The jury awarded the King family a symbolic sum of
one-hundred dollars. Dr. King's son, Dexter King,
says the family was looking for truth from the jury,
not money, and is satisfied with the verdict.
/// DEXTER KING ACT ///
For the family, I think, for us, this is the end
of the road. This was the final legal remedy
available for us. We exercised it, and we were
victorious. I think we can move on with our
lives and know that we did all we could. I
think my dad would be proud that we really
sought the truth and justice: everything he
talked about and everything he stood for.
/// END ACT ///
Dr. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, is hoping the
verdict will change the legal and historical view of
the assassination.
/// CORETTA KING ACT //
My husband once said, "the moral arc of the
universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
Today, almost 32 years after my husband and the
father of my four children was assassinated, I
feel that the jury's verdict clearly affirms
this principle.
/// END ACT ///
Local law enforcement officials say the verdict is not
likely to result in criminal charges. One reason is
the burden of proof is much higher for criminal trials
than for civil ones. Last year the U-S Justice
Department began an investigation into whether the
assassination was the result of a conspiracy. The
results could be released within a few weeks. But,
Deputy U-S Attorney General Eric Holder says not to
expect any dramatic findings.
/// HOLDER ACT ///
I would not want people to think that on the
basis of the work that we have done that there
is the likelihood of any kind of criminal trial.
/// END ACT ///
U-S Congressman John Lewis of Georgia says he will ask
President Clinton and U-S Attorney General Janet Reno
to order a fresh investigation into the King
assassination. (Signed)
NEB/MJL/gm
09-Dec-1999 16:09 PM EDT (09-Dec-1999 2109 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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