Ray Attorneys Move to Void Guilty Plea

Attorneys for James Earl Ray made another attempt Tuesday to get his guilty plea thrown out and obtain a trial in the 1968 slaying of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Citing a state law in place when Ray pleaded guilty, attorney Andrew Hall said Ray should have been granted a trial in 1969 because the judge died before considering Ray’s request to withdraw his guilty plea.

The law, since repealed, stipulated that a pending motion be granted if a judge died before making a ruling, Hall said.

In a letter to Shelby County Criminal Court Judge W. Preston Battle sent 16 days after admitting his guilt in 1969, Ray said he wanted to withdraw his plea. Battle died of a heart attack five days later.

Ray’s guilty plea has been upheld eight times and he is serving a 99-year sentence. There was no immediate ruling on the latest motion.

Prosecutor John Campbell in Memphis has said the courts correctly ruled in 1969 that Ray “knowingly and intelligently” pleaded guilty to killing King in Memphis in April 1968. That meant he voluntarily waived his right to appeal, Campbell has said.

Hall said the judge who replaced Battle, Arthur C. Faquin, and the Court of Criminal Appeals should have ruled on the simple fact there was a pending motion before Battle. Hall also asked that Ray be released if granted a trial. “If it were Podunk Joe, he would be out already,” said Hall after filing the request Tuesday in Davidson County Chancery Court.

Ray, 69 and suffering from liver disease, also has been seeking a trial in a separate court action in Memphis. In that court, Ray has argued the .30-06 hunting rifle found at the murder scene with his fingerprints on it was put there to frame him.