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) — At least one of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s four children are expected to take the stand when testimony resumes Monday in the wrongful death suit filed by the slain civil rights leader's family.

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 as part of an alleged conspiracy to kill King — theories largely discounted by law enforcement officials.

The King family claims that Jowers participated in an assassination plot that was allegedly hatched in his place of business. 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. The suit is based largely on a 1993 television interview where Jowers, 73, claimed that mobsters offered him $100,000 to have 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.

Dexter King, one of King's sons, is most likely to testify about a conversation he had with Jowers where the defendant allegedly admitted his role in the plot to kill his father. According to Dexter King, Jowers also admitted that someone other than Ray killed the elder King. Former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young testified last week that Jowers told him that he participated in the murder conspiracy.

In 1997, Dexter King visited Ray in prison and told him that he believed his claims of innocence. Convinced of the various conspiracy theories surrounding his father's death, he tried to help Ray get a new trial. 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 that was above Jowers' restaurant.

Ray recanted his story several days later, claiming his original lawyers coerced his confession. He spent the next 29 years seeking a new trial but was denied seven times by state and federal courts.

Last week, the plaintiffs focused on casting doubt on the alleged murder weapon. Famed TV Judge Joe Brown, who reportedly heard Ray's last appeal for a new trial, testified 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' lawyer did not object to Brown's testimony, despite the fact that the judge is not a ballistics expert, but only an admitted recreational hunter and gun enthusiast. Brown also told jurors that the aiming mechanism on the alleged murder weapon was damaged.

Another expert witness for the plaintiffs, Jerry Francisco, testified that the assassin would have needed to use a fully-functional weapon, a well-conditioned gun, to make the shot that killed King.

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's widow, Coretta Scott King, and two of their children. According to Pepper, a report on the federal investigation has been overdue since last June.

It is uncertain whether Jowers will testify. Since the start of the trial two weeks ago, he has fallen ill and has not been able to attend court regularly. Investigators have largely dismissed Jowers' claims as not credible and inconsistent, suggesting that he has made up stories because he wants proceeds from a movie deal on his story.

— Bryan Robinson