RIFLE LINKED TO KING KILLING TO BE RETESTED.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. A state appeals court Wednesday allowed for new tests on the rifle and bullet believed used to kill the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., keeping alive James Earl Ray's quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby" quest after, go after, pursue look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the a trial. The State Court of Criminal Appeals said a judge has the authority to order new tests on the bullet and the .30-06 hunting rifle found with Ray's fingerprints on it near the Memphis hotel where King was slain in 1968. Ray, who is 69 and suffering from liver disease Liver Disease Definition Liver disease is a general term for any damage that reduces the functioning of the liver. Description The liver is a large, solid organ located in the upper right-hand side of the abdomen. , wants the tests to further his decades-old attempt to reverse his guilty plea in the assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. . He contends the rifle in court custody since the 1960s is not the murder weapon. Memphis Judge Joe Brown ruled in February that new technology exists to prove once and for all if Ray's rifle killed King. Ray's lawyers must now formally ask the judge for permission to conduct the tests. Brown tried to give that permission in 1994, but was overruled by the appeals court. If tests prove Ray's rifle was not the murder weapon, he can ask the court for a hearing on his claim of innocence. The FBI and the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations tested the rifle in the 1970s, but could not establish beyond a scientific doubt that it was the murder weapon. The tests showed King was killed by the same kind of weapon. Ray contends the rifle found near the murder scene was put there by conspirators CONSPIRATORS. Persons guilty of a conspiracy. See 3 Bl. Com. 126-71 Wils. Rep. 210-11. See Conspiracy. trying to frame him. Ray said he brought the rifle to Memphis on instructions from a shadowy gun runner he knew only as Raoul. Authorities have never established Raoul existed. Ray's attorney, William Pepper This article is about the physician. For the lawyer, see William F. Pepper. William Pepper (August 21, 1843 - July 28, 1898), American physician, was born in Philadelphia. , was in England Wednesday and not immediately available for comment. Prosecutors were skeptical about the ruling's effect. ``Other than the fact that it's going to continue the circus atmosphere, whether this is going to produce anything, who knows,'' said prosecutor John Campbell John Campbell is the name of: British political figures
Ray's guilty plea has been upheld seven times by state and federal courts. He avoided a possible death penalty with the plea and is serving a 99-year prison sentence. |
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