Jesse Jackson wants a retrial
Pressure has mounted for years from black leaders who want a new trial for James Earl Ray, the petty gunman and thief serving a 99-year prison sentence for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. a decade ago. Last week, after meeting with Ray for four hours inside Tennessee's Brushy Mountain State Prison, Chicago Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson told reporters: "I do not believe he killed Dr. King. I believe Ray was coerced into pleading guilty to the murder."
When King was shot, Jackson was standing near him outside a second-floor room of the Lorraine Motel in...