Dexter King appears to accept Pepper's position on all other points.
Chris Burford
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Civil trial jury finds conspiracy in King assassination
MEMPHIS, Tennessee (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 the 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 damages.
The family had asked for a token amount because what they wanted most was for the jury to find evidence of a conspiracy and lend support to their call for a new investigation into the killing.
"I'm just so happy to see that the people have spoken," King's son Dexter said. "This is what we've always asked for."
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.