Thursday, Becemer 9,1999____Page 2
Jury: King victim of conspiracy I
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A jury
hearing a wrongful death lawsuit filed
by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
family found Wednesday that the civil
rights leader was the victim of a vast
murder conspiracy, not a lone assassin.
The family had sued Loyd Jowers,
a retired Memphis businessman who
claimed six years ago that he paid
someone other than James Earl Ray to
kill King. The family’s lawyer claimed
that die government, the Mafia and the
military were involved.
After three hours of deliberations,
the jury of six blacks and six whites
awarded the Kings just $100 in dam
ages.
The family had asked for a token
amount because whatjhey-wanted
most was for die jury to find evidence
of a conspiracy and lend support to
their call for a new investigation into
the killing.
Ray confessed to killing King and
was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
He spent the rest of his life claiming to
be innocent and trying to get a trial. He
died from liver disease last year.
Ray’s guilty plea was upheld eight
times by state and federal courts. A
congressional committee concluded
in 1978 that Ray was the killer, but he
may have had help before or after the
assassination. The committee did not
find any government involvement in
the murder.
William Pepper, the Kings’ lawyer,
told the jury that Jowers, 73, was part
of a conspiracy involving the Mafia
and agents of the federal government
to kill King because of his opposition
to the Vietnam War and plans for a
huge march on Washington.
A cover-up following the assassi
nation in Memphis in 1968 involved
the FBI, CIA, the media and Army
intelligence, as well as state and city
officials, said Pepper, who also repre
sented Ray in his efforts to recant his
confession and get a trial. Pepper told
the jurors they could rewrite history.
Juror David Morphy said he
believed the assassination was too
complex to be carried out by one per
son!
“We all thought it was kind of a
cut-and-dried case, with the evidence
that Pepper brought forth, that there
were a lot of people involved, every
one from the CIA, military involve
LL
••
We all thought it was kind of a cut-and-dried
11 i
case, with the evidence that Pepper brought
forth, that there were a lot of people
involved
David Morphy
* juror
ment in it - Jowers was involved in it,
we felt,” he said.
Lewis Garrison, Jowers’ lawyer,
told the jurors that while they could
reasonably conclude King was the vic
tim of a conspiracy, his client’s role
was minor at best.
In 1993, Jowers said on ABC-TV
that he hired King’s killer as a favor to
an underworld figure who was a
friend. He did not identify the purport
ed killer, but said it wasn’t Ray.
Jowers, who has never repeated the
claim but has not recanted it either,
was sick for much of the trial and did
not testify.
At the time of the killing, Jowers
owned a small restaurant, Jim’s Grill,
across the street from The Lorraine
Motel, where King was killed. On the
day of the assassination, Ray, a prison
escapee from Missouri, used an
assumed name to rent a room in a
rooming house above Jim’s Grill.
Garrison told the jury it was hard
to believe that “the owner of a greasy
spoon and an escaped convict” could
have pulled off King’s assassination.
King’s widow, Coretta Scott King,
testified that her family believes Ray
did not act alone.
“If we know the truth, we can be
free and go on with our lives,” she said
on the trial’s opening day.
Officials say ultimatum
not directed at civilians
■ Only militants in
Chechenya are being tar
geted, says the Russian
military.
ACHKOI-MARTAN, Russia
(AP) - Russian forces Wednesday
concentrated their fire on Chechnya’s
ravaged capital, as officials gave con
flicting signals about an ultimatum to
trapped civilians to leave or face
death.
Russian officials and comman
ders said the ultimatum to residents to
leave Grozny by Saturday or face a
massive bombardment was not direct
ed at civilians. But they did not back
off on die deadline for die attack.
The Russian military said
Wednesday it is allowing civilians to
walk or drive out of the city unimped
ed.However, the military fires on cars
that try to break past Russian lines,
assuming that they carry militants,
said Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, the
chief of the Russian army in western
Chechnya.
Russian planes and artillery con
tinued to bombard Grozny and sur
rounding towns Wednesday, making it
almost impossible for people to leave
the city. War planes and hfclicb^ter
gunshipsflew 150 sorties over the pre
vious 24 hours, the military said.
The aircraft and artillery gunners
are firing only on rebel targets in
Grozny, Shamanov insisted. But with
militants and civilians hiding in base
ments, it was not clear how the mili
tary could distinguish with any preci
sion.
Russian planes dropped leaflets
on Grozny earlier this week saying
that a safe corridor would be open for
civilians to leave, and anyone left in
the city after Saturday would face a
massive air and artillery attack.
The ultimatum drew strong inter
national criticism, with U.S. and
European leaders criticizing the plan
as inhumane and urging Russia to
back down.
Gen. Viktor Kazantsev, Russia’s
military commander in Chechnya,
said the leaflets were aimed at the
Chechen militants, not civilians. He
indicated the deadline was still set for
Saturday.
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Clinton evaluates
past year in office
WASHINGTON (AP) - President
Clinton said Wednesday he hopes
U.S. and Cuban officials will not
allow “politics or threats” to decide
the fate of a 6-year-old Cuban boy
caught in an international custody
dispute. Also, he rejected cutting off
American aid to Russia in retaliation
for its brutal campaign against the
Chechen rebels.
In an hour-long news conference,
Clinton summed up the achievements
and disappointments of a year that
began with the impeachment trial and
neared its close with demonstrators
rioting in Seattle against his trade
policies.
ur tne tailed attempt by
Republicans in Congress to remove
him because of his involvement with a
young intern, Clinton said, “The mis
take I made was self-inflicted.”
As for 1999, he said he was “pro
foundly disappointed” that Congress
rejected some of his initiatives, but
overall, “I’m gratified by what was
accomplished.”
He cited as accomplishments an
agreement under which China could
enter the World Trade Organization,
the start of peace talks on the future of
Cyprus, a conventional forces agree
ment with Moscow and “debt relief
for the poorest countries of the
world.”
Clinton also seized the opportuni
ty to announce that Israel and Syria
have agreed to resume peace negotia
tions. Talks are set to start next week
in Washington.
Asked about the Cuban boy,
Clinton said there are difficult deci
sions that must be made on whether
Elian Gonzalez will live in the United
States with his late mother’s relatives
or in Cuba with his biological father.
“I don’t think that politics or
threats should have anything to do
with it, and, if I have my way, it
won’t,” Clinton said, but he also said
he did not think he should decide the
boy’s fate.
Discussing a variety of topics,
Clinton also said the country’s racial
problems “will stay at the center of
my concerns,” even though he has yet
«——
I don’t think that
politics or threats
should have anything
to do with (the fate .
of Cuban boy caught
in custody dispute)”
President Clinton
to release the report on race that he
promised more than a year ago. He
said he is rewriting the draft. “I don’t
want to put it out unless I think it can
make a difference.”
Clinton promised to pursue in
2000 one legislative goal he failed to
attain in 1999: tighter gun restric
tions.
The president said his administra
tion is considering a lawsuit against
gun manufacturers to recover costs of
gun violence in public housing in
hopes of getting the industry to “stop
irresponsible marketing practices.”
He noted that one company was
marketing a weapon by touting the
fact it is difficult to get fingerprints
off it. “You don’t have to be all broke
out with brilliance to figure out what
the message is there,” Clinton said.
Clinton also said he thought it
would be a mistake for the United
States to cut off aid to Russia because
of its military campaign in Chechnya.
He said most U.S. assistance finances
peaceful efforts such as advancing
democracy, creating an independent
media and fostering student
exchanges.
“I don’t think our interests would
be furthered by terminating that,”
Clinton said. Halting aid would
“alienate Russia from the internation
al community, and that’s a bad thing.”
But Clinton also said he has “no
sympathy” for Chechen rebels, even
though he has criticized as too heavy
handed Russia ’s efforts to stamp out
the rebellion.
■ Washington
Clinton: Israeli, Syrian
peace ‘within our grasp’
WASHINGTON (AP) - Israel
and Syria have agreed to resume
peace negotiations, President
Clinton announced Wednesday, cau
tioning that “success is not
inevitable” but that peace appeared
to be “within our grasp.”
Clinton said the talks, to start
next week in Washington, will
resume “at the point where they left
off” in 1996 and that he hopes they
will lead to new negotiations
between Israel and Lebanon.
Syria and Israel suspended
negotiations 3‘/2 years ago amid a
wave of terrorism against the Jewish
state.
Clinton’s announcement comes
after Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright’s meetings in the region
this week with Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian
President Hafez Assad.
■ Tennessee
Boy fearing foster care
hides mother’s death
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A 9
year-old boy whose mother died at
home lived with the corpse for a
month, fixing his own meals and
attending school without fail,
because he was afraid he’d be put in
foster care if anyone found out.
When Crystal Wells died Nov. 3,
her son, Travis Butler, covered her
body with her coat and placed sheets
of notebook paper over her face.
After that, Travis cut his hair,
prepared meals and went to school
every day until her body was discov
ered Monday by family friends
Dorothy and Nathaniel Jeffries.
Dorothy Jeffries said Travis
begged them not to call police. He
told diem he lived with the body on
the living room floor because he was
afraid of being placed in a foster
home.
Police have not released a cause
of death for Crystal Wells, 30, but
said foul play is not suspected.
■Washington
Official: Homeless need
help starting on job path
WASHINGTON (AP) -
America’s homeless want to work,
but prosperity will remain beyond
their grasp without assistance,
according to a government report
released Wednesday.
The report released by Andrew
Cuomo - secretary of Housing and
Urban Development - found that 42
percent of the homeless people sur
veyed said their main need was help
in finding a job, and 44 percent said
they had worked at least part time
during the previous month.
In addition, it found that 60
percent of the homeless living
alone and 76-percent of those liv
ing with families managed to leave
shelters for permanent housing
when they received needed ser
vices, including housing subsi
dies, health care, substance-abuse
treatment, education and job train
ing.
Without assistance, Cuomo said,
few will gain an economic toehold
in America.
“What doesn’t work is arresting
the homeless, criminalizing the
homeless, chasing the homeless
from one city to another,” Cuomo
told a news conference at a local
shelter for homeless families.