Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 7

Wednesday, September 3, 1997 The Clarion-Ledger 5A James Earl Ray's lawyer argues judge's death grounds for new trial Budget office optimistic federal deficit decline will continue for decade 1 i Rich PedroncelllThe Associated Press 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 wasn't contesting that. He said the judge who replaced Battle, Arthur C. Faquin, and the Court of Criminal Appeals should have ruled instead on the simple fact there was a pending motion before Battle.

That motion was Ray's letter to Battle, said Hall, who began representing Ray about seven years ago. "If it were Podunk Joe, he would be out already," said Hall after filing the request Tuesday in Davidson County Chancery Court. He said a similar appeal was filed in the 1970s but Ray had it withdrawn. Hall also asked that Ray be released if granted a trial. Ray's efforts to win a trial have taken on a more urgent tone since he was diagnosed with a terminal liver disease.

Kaczynski lawyers oppose psych exam Quin Denvir (left), co-lead defense counsel for Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski, and assistant Federal Public Defender Dennis Waks, walk to the federal courthouse in Sacramento, for a pretrial hearing Tuesday. Defense lawyers opposed a prosecution request for the government to do its own psychiatric examination of Kaczynski, calling it a violation of his Fifth Amendment rights. Transportation deaths higher, mainly on highways, in planes Inflation-adjusted economic growth, the CBO said, will probably average 2.3 percent a year through 2007. Although this amounts to only two-tenths of a percentage point more than CBO's earlier prediction, that fraction of increased growth in a multitrillion-dollar economy will add billions of dollars to the U.S. Treasury and save billions more in foregone program costs.

At the same time, if Congress can resist the incessant pressure from various interest groups to spend more 'than was staked out in the budget accord, the slower rate of federal spending will save additional billions. Even as Congress' budget analysts looked forward optimistically, they cautioned all of it could come tumbling down if the economy went sour. "A recession could push the deficit above current projections by $100 billion or more for several years," the CBO said. And in a gentle note of warning to its congressional overseers, the CBO said Congress itself would have to pay strict heed to its own long-term budget plan "which will be quite restrictive after 2000." The 10-year projection, CBO added, represents only a respite in the government's battle of the spending bulge. Once baby boomers begin retiring in large numbers in 2010, the costs of health care and other federal programs will explode.

By Karin Miller Ths Associated Prasa NASHVILLE Attorneys for James Earl Ray made another attempt Tuesday to get his guilty plea thrown out and get him a trial in the 1968 slaying of the Rev. 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 in state and federal courts. The 69-year-old Ray is serving a 99-year sentence in a state prison in Nashville for King's murder. reserve the rirht to limit Prices good thru 9-9-97.

Some Coca-Cola, By David Hess Knlght-Rldder Nawa Sarvlca i WASHINGTON Long known for its gloomy economic prophecies, Congress' budget office laid out a' rosy prediction Tuesday for the nation's economy over the next decade, while predicting a string of balanced federal budgets after 2001. Reversing its assessment of just nine months ago, when it forecast continued budget deficits and creeping economic growth, the Congressional Budget Office said the government's red-ink spending would disappear in 2002 and stay roughly in balance through 2007. "Indeed, the budget is projected to be in virtual balance through 2007, with the deficit or surplus below 1 percent of gross domestic product in any year," a CBO analysis declared. This contrasted with an estimate last January, in which the CBO guessed the federal deficit would be nearly 2 percent of GDP through the next decade. For the fiscal year that ends Sept.

30, the agency said, the deficit is expected to be $34 billion, which is substantially less than its March projection of $115 billion. The $34 billion would be the smallest deficit since 1974. The drop in the deficit marks the fifth straight year of declining debits by the government. The CBO said its newfound optimism stems mainly from two developments: a higher rate of national economic growth and tougher federal spending restraints first imposed in 1993 and tightened even more in a budget agreement reached this year. Barrett: Court From 1A ters he said he sent to about 1,500 people ask for donations to fight the ACLU in its efforts to open Sovereignty Commission files.

Jackson lawyer Isaac Byrd, a board member of ACLU Mississippi and the national ACLU, said, "I think it's ironic that he's doing this because the ACLU protects the rights of free speech, even those as far right as Barrett. "As a black person I understand pvhat it means when persons cannot express their views. As a black rVmerican I'm always supportive of the rights of free speech. It's important that we as black Americans not have a double standard," Byrd said. But Byrd said Barrett's opposi-lion to the ACLU comes "a little too ate" in the Sovereignty Commission case.

The ACLU and private plaintiffs sued the state in 1977 to pen the files. Some records are expected to be opened within the next Jionths. Barrett said he tried to intervene is a defendant in the lawsuit in order requires action on privacy issue by Sept. 15 Diet Coke or Coke Products Ipiilpl! from 41,798 in 1995. "We need a concerted effort by government, law enforcement authorities, industry and the media to remedy this state of affairs," said NTSB Chairman Jim Hall.

Ricardo Martinez, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, estimated that as many as one-third of the accidents and two-thirds of the resulting fatalities could be blamed on the increase in aggressive driving. Two major accidents ValuJet and TWA Flight 800 accounted for the jump in airline fatalities from 168 in 1995 to 380 in 1996. Private pilots accounted for 631 fatalities last year, down from 733. Commission records show that in its later years the commission turned its investigative attention to people like himself who advocated the very ideas the commission was set up to preserve. His records begin in 1967, a few months after he arrived in Mississippi.

Barrett, who was born in New York, said commission reports show he was viewed as an outsider. Barrett gave his own account of commission reports including opposition to his sports awards program and his legal fight to recover money from a Washington fund-raising banquet. Barrett described his activities in glowing terms as patriotic, anti-communist, democratic and in favor of majority rule. "My people were genuinely exhilarated by my appearances and words and I was humbled and honored by it all. Through it all, I sought to draw the power of the populace to me, the way Franklin drew lightning, so that my voice could be a potent force for change and freedom," Barrett wrote in the rebuttal.

slaying suspect tives he bought the items at various locations around Jackson. Hinds County Public Defender Tom Fortner unsuccessfully argued police lacked enough evidence to charge Johnson with capital murder. But Hinds County Court Judge Houston Patton ruled the case should be presented as is to a grand jury. He also denied Johnson bond. Others killed during the holiday weekend: Benjamin Greer, 19, of Madison, and Curlee Wilson, 60, of Jackson, both killed in a two-car accident in Rankin County Saturday.

LaTisha Shavers, 26, of Canton, killed in a two vehicle collision in Leake County Saturday. Kaley Stephens, a 2-month-old girl, died Sunday of massive head injuries sustained Saturday in Yazoo County. Also killed in the accident were Leon Atchinson 23, of Yazoo County, whose compact car was being driven westbound on the wrong side of a country road, and Freddy A. Vancleave, 39, of Yazoo City, a passenger in Atchinson's car. The wreck occurred on Old Benton Road when Atchinston crashed head-on into an eastbound car.

The Associated Preaa WASHINGTON More Amer-icans died on the highways and airways last year while boating was a bit safer and the number of railroad fatalities changed little. Overall, 44,525 people were killed in transportation accidents in 1996, up from 44,437 the year before, the National Transportation Safety Board reported Tuesday. Only marine accidents showed a decline, falling from 912 deaths in 1995 to 769 last year. The largest water category, recreational boating, saw 714 deaths, down from 832 a year earlier. As usual the roads were the biggest killer, claiming 41,907 lives, up options so far.

Archives spokeswoman Katie Blount said the department would not release figures on responses until after the Sept. 15 deadline. The Sovereignty Commission, a state government agency, was founded by the Mississippi Legislature in 1956 to preserve segregation. Gov. Bill Waller vetoed its funding in 1973, forcing it to become inactive.

The Legislature in 1977 abolished the commission and ordered its files sealed until 2027. U.S. District Judge William H. Barbour Jr. ordered the records opened in 1989, but the files remained sealed while plaintiff Rev.

Ed King appealed to protect the privacy of spying victims. Barrett said he is classified as a victim of Sovereignty Commission investigations. Barrett said he is sticking up for the mission of the commission. "I regard the Sovereignty Commission as a legitimate law enforcement agency on the same par as any others," Barrett said. But Barrett said the Sovereignty tail all of the items that were taken from Parker's 531 Hartfield St.

home the night of her death. The caller told police the items were in Johnson's Magnolia Street apartment. Police obtained a search warrant and found the items, which included stereo equipment, tables, a cordless phone and pictures. McCann said Johnson told detec A total number of citations issued for the whole weekend wasn't available, Graham said. Of the citations issued Saturday, more than 70 were for license violations, Graham said.

Many motorists coming through the roadblocks either didn't have their driver's license with them or had never been issued a driver's license, Graham said. "Mississippi law says you have to have a license and you have to have it on your person," Graham said. "These people think, 'I've got the car and I've got the tag, why do I need a Graham said. According to Mississippi law an officer can issue a citation to a motorist who holds a valid driver's license but isn't able to produce it on demand. If the license can be shown to a judge in court, charges will be dropped 4 QQ UU Johnson: Phone records contradict story told by quantities and to correct printing errors.

items not available at Super Express Rx Oenra-Brite Toothbrush Maalox Liquid Sot Vaseline nueiiMve Care Lotion I 4oz. Big Mopper Butanei 2 Ply Paper Towels Disposable Lighter! .69 Snowtime Freezer Pops 10 Count Faultless Starch FauWe Bonus Size 25oz. .89 i- Budweiser TIlll or Bud UU Light Beer 1 2 Pick. 1 2oi. Cam Luvel Milk 1 Gallon I I Vaaan I VwT Win (H .99 nil 1977, but U.S.

District Judge Harold Cox wouldn't allow it. Barrett is among about 360 people who received copies of their Sovereignty Commission records in response to a request to exercise privacy options. Barrett said he will offer a rebuttal to the files, including his own 450-page book and 250 pages of exhibits. He posted a 16-page summary on the Internet at the Nationalist web site last week. Barrett said he will present his material to the Department of Archives and History after a 10:30 a.m.

news conference. Department of Archives and History Executive Director Elbert Hil-liard said the court order that set the framework for individuals to obtain their records and exercise privacy options calls for material to be mailed and postmarked by Sept. 15. Barrett's request is the only one so far for hand-delivery. Hilliard said the attorney general's office advised his department that it could accept the hand-delivered material.

Hilliard said he did not know how many people have exercised privacy stab wounds, blunt trauma to the head and had been choked. Police are awaiting lab reports to determine if she was sexually assaulted. McCann testified anonymous calls made to the homicide division and Crime Stoppers led detectives to Johnson. McCann said the last phone call received July 29 was from an individual who described in de Margaret Conners, 51, of Mar-rero, La. She died when the car in which she was a passenger collided with a truck on Mississippi 27 about 5:13 p.m.

in Hinds County, Armstrong said. William E. Greenlee, 53, of Winona. He died about 11:11 p.m. in a one-vehicle accident on Mississippi 413 in Montgomery County, Moses said.

She said the cause of the accident is still under investigation. In Jackson, the Jackson Police Department issued 123 citations at two roadblocks Saturday night. The checkpoints at the intersections of West and Mayes streets and Prentiss and Robinson streets, were set up to catch impaired drivers and other violators, said police spokesman Robert Graham. From 1A leighbor's porch. "We have a voice mail message arom Chris saying he couldn't find ier street because he had only been a few times," McCann said.

'But then he said he found it and he vould be there in a few minutes." McCann said Parker, who died rom blood loss, had sustained six mm Accidents: 6 more killed on state roads on Sunday and Monday 6 Pack, 1 2oz. Cans Glasses Dynamic Force Extra Strength uiet Drops Dynamic Energy or Dynamic Fat Burner loz. Austin Windshield Washer Fluid Powerade Thirst Quencher Coors or Miller or Miller Lit Beer Beer I3 Pick. UoiXiru aV Park. I ok.

Cant Very Fine -I Crest Toothpaste Twin Pack foot Maala 3 afQQ is 1 mi i lift tt.99 1 (TTt)ajas IHflkf" fruH dranata Iran drank -r'' I mm i i ma lev, Food Ice From 1A In Tate County, a one-vehicle iccident claimed the life of James J. Reynolds, 29, address unavail-ible, Moses said. Reynolds was tilled about 4:23 p.m. No details of he accident were available. In DeSoto County, Johnnie lohnson, age unavailable, of Mem-his, was killed about 7:44 p.m.

in a me-vehicle accident on 1-55. Moses aid the accident is still under instigation. Three people also were killed in eparate accidents Sunday: Kentrel Hill, 18, of Pleasant rove. He died about 2:38 a.m. in a me-vehicle accident on Mississippi 8 in Wayne County, Moses said.

Closes said the cause of the accident still under investigation and rould not release any details. pst mi. i ro)OOFIHGSIDIHGGUTTER FINANCING ON ytssii'x MX REQUIRED WORKNO nicrnnuTC 26167 Hwy. 27354-2886 1-800-758-8451 Central Mississippi's Only Ford Lincoln Mercury Dealer 100 ALL ST $7500 NtKEY DISCOUNTS 0' ALL EQUITY Yffl 898-981 9 Va-f I I jaaw 2 Drinks lOot tni aaT CALL NOW f'Sr UNITED CONSTRUCTION vream 12 Gallon 1 'i jj 1.