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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1998)
r--v ,■** r Reno reopens King assassination case Limited review called for falls short of widow’s hopes for a national commission WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Janet Reno reopened the investigation of the 30-year-old assas sination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., focusing cm two alle gations of a conspiracy beyond James EariRay. The limited review announced Wednesday stops well short of the national commission sought by Kingb widow, Coretta Scott King. Nevertheless, King welcomed the probe “as a first step towards revealing the truth.” “I hope this inquiry will open a wider investigation of all pertinent leads,” said King, whom Reno consult ed for months and informed of the decision Tuesday night “When this is accomplished, our & family aftdtheAmerican people will at i last have the satisfaction that all rele [ vant evidence has been fully exam f ined,” King said. In a brief written announcement, Reno said, “We hope this review will provide answers to new questions that have been raised about a tragedy that still haunts our nation.” She promised a report on the findings. Despite a narrow initial focus on separate allegations by a retired FBI agent and a former Memphis, Tenn., bar owner, “the evidence gathered fay the inquiry will be followed wherever it may lead,” the Justice Department said. In meetings last spring with Reno and President Clinton, King and her sons had sought a national commis sion, armed with power to grant immu nity in return for testimony. The family has expressed doubts about the official version that James Earl Ray, acting alone, shot King on the balcony of a Memphis, Tenn., motel April 4,1968. Ray died in prison this year serving a sentence for killing King, but he had long ago disavowed his confession and spent years futileiy seeking a new trial. The review will be conducted by civil rights division lawyers, aided by criminal division attorneys, under the leadership of Barry Kowalski, who successfully prosecuted the Los Angeles pohce officers who beat black motorist Rodney King in an episode caught on a video camera by a bystander The King family also said it had concerns about die FBI investigation and die actions of its farmer director, J. Edgar Hoover. Justice officials cautioned that the federal government might not be able to prosecute any allegations, even if proved true by the investigation, because the statute oflimitations on the basic federal crime in the case - con spiracy to deprive King of his civil rights-ran out 25 years ago. There was no federal murder charge available for the King ease in 1968. Tennessee’s murder law has no statute of limitations, and any evidence Justice turns up could be turned over to i state prosecutors, officials said. One of Ray’s brothers, Jerry Ray, said Wednesday he hopes a special prosecutor, and not officials in the Justice Department, conducts the review. “If die FBI does it, they’ll say James done it and he’s a racist,” he said « If the FBI does it, they’ll say James done it and he’s a racist.” Jerry Ray brother of James Earl Ray Russians fail to assure stability for markets | MOSCOW'ffcP) - Russia’s fcSlifig M prime ministv tried to reassur-^ investors Wednesday after bonds plunged in value under a drastic plan to restructure Russia’s enormous debts, but markets continued to fall. The ruble also dove again as Central Bank support for the curren cy faltered, forcing the suspension of trading at the interbank exchange for a second day in a row. The ruble weakened by 5 percent, trading at 8.26 rubles to the dollar in contrast to 7.86 rubles on Tuesday. M-'' President Boris^hsio^gned the decreeonr | $40 billi<; ft i & 1 ■ r*; >•- * - M ■ t: mmm after terms of the plafc^e*e re5ft&l®d:^ announcedJa^eiJutsdajt^ "ctftfiinried creditors’ fears thaffhey would sustain heavy losses. Investors whose bonds have matured will have the option of trad ing them either for long-term, dollar denominated paper with a very mod est return, or much higher-yielding paper denominated in rubles. Even as he pledged to try to limit the damage to investors, Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin was careful to dissociate himself > ffomfl]je restructuring decision. ^wioiitd like people to under stand us correctly: This decision was predetermined. In actual fact, our task was only to formulate it, and we could not do otherwise,” he was quot ed as saying by die ITAR-Tass news agency. “Our top priority now, my person al task, is to soften its negative influ ence on stock markets ahdmvestors.” Foreign investors have already been leaving Russia in droves, and -the losses the? will sustain under die restructuring - in some cases receiv ing just 17 cents for every dollar they invested, according to some analysts - will discourage many from return ing anytime soon. Russia will feel die loss of foreign investment keenly. Some analysts predict the country will be shut out of international commercial borrowing for several years. Stocks plummeted 6.4 percent in early trading Wednesday, with the Russian Trading System index falling to 82.87 points from 88.38 Tuesday. Moscow residents lined up out side some banks to try to withdraw their deposits. “I’ve got no confidence left in die government, of course. You can’t even buy hard currency now,” said a woman who identified herself only as Julia. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said he was ready to talk with Chernomyrdin about a coalition government. But he warned that the Communists would demand a say in the prime minister’s program to cope with the economic crisis. C1’" risers brace fc apeachment call WAfcHftfQT&N^AP* ^ ^Bfacing^ora kkely-impeachfiient report, some ofPresident Clinton’s political advisers want to send Congress a separate version to counter Kenneth Starr with-evi dence from the president’s defense team. Such a move would be designed to provide Clinton’s Democratic allies on Capitol Hill with ammunition to argue against starting impeachment proceedings in the Monica Lewinsky case - and to influence public percep tions. The idea has been “batted around” and passed on to Clinton’s lawyers by political advisers, one senior administration official paid. A second official said the report could be written like 3 dis senting r^port.duripgjacongres sional investigation, evaluating the same evidence bit coming to dif •. ferent conclusions. The officials, both of whom commented only on condition of anonymity, cautioned that no deci sions have been made and that it is unclear how Clinton’s lead private attorney, David Kendall, views the idea. Kendall was out of town Wednesday and unavailable for comment. Advisers note that there are other options for putting forth information helpfulto Clinton, o ; such as press briefings, release of documents and interviews with aides or even the president him self. Starr, the independent counsel, is expected to deliver a report to Congress as early as next month that would outline possible impeachable offenses in the Lewinsky case, including perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of the power of the presidency. Clinton’s defenders are likely to respond soon after. At issue is whether Clinton ; lied under oath in die Paula JonQF i sexual harassment lawsuit and \ tried to obstrtict the lawsuit and J subsequent criminal investigaitiqit | by'.dpncealmg.the nature of h0 5 relationship jwth Lewinsky. * * ^ . T Last"week,. Clinton ended seven months of public denial by acknowledging he had an inappro priate relationship with Lewinsky and had misled both his family and the country. But the president told a grand jury that his denial of “sexual rela tions” with Lewinsky under oath last January was legally accurate even though he had engaged in sexual contact with her, legal sources said. La Vista man gets life sentence PAPILLION (AP) - A LaVista man convicted of dousing his estranged wife with gasoline, setting her on fire and watching her burn was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison. Francis Seberger, 40, convicted at trial of first-degree murder, was sentenced by a three-judge panel in Sarpy County District Court. Prosecutors had sought die death penalty for die arson that severely burned Debbie Seberger, 34. She was burned over 80 percent of her body and died at the St. Elizabeth Health Center’s burn unit in Lincoln a month after the attack May 31, 1997. Seberger’s attorney argued that his client’s life should be spared because he was despondent over his divorce and drunk at the time of the killing. Attorney Greg Pivovar said Wednesday that the sentence was the best his client could hope for. Prosecutor Patricia Bramhall said she did not know why the judges did not impose the death penalty. The Sebergers’ 13-year-old daughter, Nicole, had written the court asking that her father’s life be spared. She was in court for the sen tencing. Supreme Court to rule on 2000 Census polling WASHINGTON (AP) - The Clinton administration is press ing for a Supreme Court ruling on the use of modem polling tech niques it contend* will better account for minorities and city dwellers in the 2000 Census. The solicitor general has appealed a federal court ruling barring use of statistical sam pling for the national head count and will ask for Supreme Court review, the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday. ’ ; The census is used to deter mine how; mjany congressional seats each state giets’ Billions of dollars in federal funds also are allocated on the basis of how many people live in each state and city. more accuraie coum wouiu be expected to benefit Democrats, because those nor mally missed in the Census belong to that party's constituen cies. House Republicans sued over administration plans to use sam pling, claiming it violates the constitutional^ requirement for an “actual enumeration'' oftfce pop lilafibnv Afedefaf bbtirt panel ruled Monday that the sampling plan violates the Census Act. Sampling is a basic tool of pollsters and marketers that makes estimates based on what is already known about a given pop ulation. Man pleads guilty to Beanie Baby scam MEDJN4, Ohia(AP) - A man accused of operating a Beanie Baines scam that cheated people in 19 stotes^ipcluding Nebraska, has pleaded guiltyto theft. ; Eldred Proctor, 58, and3iis wife received between $80,000 and $100,000 by advertising to sell rare and retired versions of the popular beanbag toys, David Sheldon, a Medina County assis tant prosecutor, said Tuesday. Proctor took the orders - including $5,356 from a Nebraska man and $980 from a Florida resident - but never sent the toys. The couple returned all but about $15,000. Proctor said he had cancer and needed money for medical treatments. He pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of theft involving the scam. He also pleaded guilty to theft of welfare benefits and ille gal use of food stamps. His wife, Arlene Proctor, 55, pleaded guilty to the same charges in April, Sheldon said. Both are to be sentenced Sept. 28 in Medina County Common Pleas Court and face a maximum penalty of 2 Vi years in prison. Sheldon said there were about 90 victims in 19 states. The states are Minnesota, West Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Nebraska, Florida, California, Virginia, Connecticut, New York, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Washington, Michigan, Georgia, Missouri and Massachusetts.
