Although he is not a ballistics expert, Judge Joe Brown told jurors that the fatal bullets did not match the weapon allegedly used to kill Martin Luther King, Jr.

				KING ASSASSINATION CONSPIRACY TRIAL
				Background Who killed Martin Luther King, Jr.? Discuss on our message board Coretta Scott King testifies 11/16/99: Special Report on the Case 11/23/99: Judge Joe Brown testifies Nov. 29 Update Nov. 29 Update (Afternoon) Nov. 30 Update (Morning) Nov. 30 Update (Evening) Dec. 1 Update (Morning) Dec. 1 Update (Evening): Dexter King testifies Dec. 2 Update Dec. 8 (The Verdict) Text of the Complaint

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Court TV) — Over 30 years after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, Memphis and TV Judge Joe Brown unveiled new information on the murder weapon: the fatal bullets found in King does not match those found in the gun.

King's relatives and Dr. William Pepper, the late James Earl Ray's longtime lawyer, have joined forces in a wrongful death suit against a man who claims he was involved in a conspiracy to kill the civil rights leader in 1968. Pepper says a liability judgment against Loyd Jowers would validate his theories that Ray was set up by the real men behind an alleged conspiracy to kill King — theories largely discounted by law enforcement officials.

The King family claims that Jowers, who owned a cafe that overlooked the Memphis motel, where King was shot to death, participated in an assassination plot that was allegedly hatched in his place of business. The suit is based largely on a 1993 television interview where Jowers, 73, claimed that mobsters offered him $100,000 to get King killed. According to the suit, Jowers was part of a plot that involved "other unknown conspirators" in King's slaying.

Jowers' attorney agrees that there was a conspiracy to kill King. However, the defense claims that Jowers did not know King was the target when he became involved in the murder plot. Jowers also has said that Memphis police officers and the late Frank C. Liberto, a Memphis produce company operator, were also involved in the plot to kill King.

Judge Brown, who reportedly heard Ray's last appeal for a new trial, testified Monday that the bullets taken out of King's body did not match the bullets found in the murder weapon.

"After extensive testing, it was found that the four bullets found in the gun chambers were metallurgically identical," Judge Brown said. "The bullets taken from Dr. King's head ... were not identical."

Jowers owned Jim's Grill, the restaurant on the ground floor of a building that included the rooming house where Ray was staying in April 1968. The two-story structure overlooked the Lorraine Motel, where King stayed during his fateful trip to Memphis. Ray pleaded guilty to King's murder in 1969 and received a 99-year sentence. He admitted firing the single shot that killed King as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel. Ray said he aimed from the second-floor bathroom window of the rooming house.

Ray recanted his story several days later, claiming his original lawyers coerced his confession. Ray, who died in 1998 of liver disease, would spend the next 29 years seeking a new trial. His conviction was upheld seven times by state and federal courts. During the 1970s, The House Select Committee on Assassins reopened the investigation of King's assassination and concluded Ray was guilty. However, the committee also left open the possibility of a conspiracy theory involving Ray as the triggerman and two white supremacists who offered to finance the hit.

Though they say the case is not about money, King's family is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Jowers and any other alleged conspirators. Dr. Pepper hopes the suit will put pressure on Attorney General Janet Reno, who ordered a federal investigation into the King assassination in August 1998 after meeting with King widow, Coretta Scott King, and two of their children. According to Pepper, a report on the federal investigation has been overdue since last June.

Dexter King, the civil rights leader's son, was expected to testify Tuesday.

— Bryan Robinson