Yolanda King took the stand as testimony continued in her family's wrongful death suit against a man who claims he was involved in a conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968.

				KING ASSASSINATION CONSPIRACY TRIAL
				Background Who killed Martin Luther King, Jr.? Discuss on our message board Coretta Scott King testifies 11/16/99: Special Report on the Case 11/23/99: Judge Joe Brown testifies Nov. 29 Update Nov. 29 Update (Afternoon) Nov. 30 Update (Morning) Nov. 30 Update (Evening) Dec. 1 Update (Morning) Dec. 1 Update (Evening): Dexter King testifies Dec. 2 Update Dec. 8 (The Verdict) Text of the Complaint

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Court TV) — Echoing her mother's previous testimony, Yolanda King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., told jurors Monday that her family's wrongful death suit is a quest for the truth, not money.

"That [money] is not a consideration; it never has been," the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. said. "It [the suit] has always been for me, for the family, about allowing the truth to go forward."

Yolanda King took the stand as testimony continued in her family's wrongful death suit against a man who claims he was involved in a conspiracy to kill the civil rights leader in 1968. According to the suit, Memphis cafe owner Loyd Jowers, 73, and "unknown conspirators" were involved in King's slaying. The suit, which was brought by the King family and Dr. William Pepper, the longtime lawyer of King's late alleged assassin James Earl Ray, is based largely on a 1993 television interview where Jowers claimed that mobsters offered him $100,000 to have King killed. Pepper says a liability judgment against Jowers would validate theories that Ray was set up as part of an alleged conspiracy to kill King — theories largely discounted by law enforcement officials.

Yolanda King described for jurors what it was like to lose her father when she was only 12 years old. However, she said, she did not really come to terms with her loss until she was well into her adult life.

Yolanda King's brother, Dexter King, is expected to testify Tuesday about various discussions he had with Jowers in 1997 about their father's slaying. According to Dexter King, Jowers admitted his role in the plot to kill the civil rights leader and said that someone other than Ray killed the elder King.

Ray pleaded guilty to King's murder in 1969 and received a 99-year sentence. However, he recanted his story several days later, claiming his original lawyers coerced his confession. Ray died in prison in 1998. He spent 29 years seeking a new trial but was denied seven times by state and federal courts.

On Monday, Walter Fauntroy, a member of The House Select Committee on Assassins, which reopened the investigation of King's assassination in the 1970s, testified that Ray was most likely the triggerman but did not act alone. Although the committee concluded in 1978 that Ray was guilty, it also left open the possibility of a conspiracy theory involving Ray and two white supremacists who offered to finance the hit. Fauntroy told jurors that he was unsatisfied with the investigation because he felt it ended too quickly and failed to fully explore the conspiracy allegations.

"We didn't have the time to investigate leads we had established but could not follow," Fauntroy said.

Fauntroy also noted that the committee's investigation was hampered because it was denied full access to the FBI's files on the King murder case. He said that the committee was unaware of the FBI's efforts to spy on King and that Army agents had King under surveillance at the time of his death. The thing that disturbed Fauntroy the most was testimony that Ray could not hit a target 100 feet away with the same rifle prosecutors say was used to kill King. However, King’s assassin shot him from 200 feet away.

Walter Fauntroy told jurors he was not satisfied with The House Select Committee on Assassins' investigation of King's murder. (Court TV)

The King family claims that Jowers participated in an assassination plot that was allegedly hatched in his place of business. Jowers owned Jim's Grill, the restaurant on the ground floor of a building that included the rooming house where Ray was staying in April 1968. The two-story structure overlooked the Lorraine Motel, where King stayed during his fateful trip to Memphis. Ray initially admitted firing the fatal shot from the second-floor bathroom window of the rooming house that was above Jowers' restaurant.

Jowers' attorney agrees that there was a conspiracy to kill King. However, the defense claims that Jowers did not know King was the target when he became involved in the murder plot. Jowers also has said that Memphis police officers and the late Frank C. Liberto, a Memphis produce company operator, were also involved in the plot to kill King.

It is uncertain whether Jowers will testify. He has fallen seriously ill since the start of the trial and has been hospitalized. The presiding judge told jurors that Jowers may not be present in court for the rest of the trial.

King's family is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Jowers and any other alleged conspirators. Dr. Pepper hopes the suit will put pressure on Attorney General Janet Reno, who ordered a federal investigation into the King assassination in August 1998 after meeting with King's widow, Coretta Scott King, and two of their children. According to the plaintiffs, a report on the federal investigation has been overdue since last June.

— Bryan Robinson

Reported by Court TV's Mary Jane Stevenson, Abby Katz and The Associated Press.

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