ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 12, 1997 TAG: 9704140050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
Tests finally set on rifle in King case
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Tennessee Attorney General John Knox Walkup announced Friday that he would not exercise his right to appeal Wednesday's appellate court order allowing a Shelby County judge to set the time, place and method for testing the rifle that is said to have killed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
That appears to be the final procedural hurdle in a matter that has moved at a faster pace this week than it has for years. The lawyers for the man convicted of killing King, James Earl Ray, say they hope that the testing will ultimately result in a new trial for their client.
John Campbell, the lawyer handling the case for the state, said, ``We didn't really see anything that we thought was appealable so we decided to let it stand.''
Jack McNeil, one of Ray's lawyers, said: ``I think it is wonderful. The state is cooperating, and the judges are doing everything they can.''
Referring to Ray's life-threatening liver ailment, he added, ``For us, time is of the essence.''
Ray confessed and pleaded guilty in 1969 to killing King. Almost immediately, he recanted the confession. A rifle bearing Ray's fingerprints was found near the scene of the April 4, 1968, assassination in Memphis. Authorities have never been able to determine conclusively whether the bullet that killed King came from that rifle.
- THE NEW YORK TIMES
School decides to purge Surge; kids get too wired
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Surge, to some, packs too much of a surge for teen-agers.
At least one school here has banned the new high-calorie, high-caffeine soda, saying it causes students to talk more and misbehave.
``We got it six weeks ago and one of the junior high kids chugged two cans of it and he was wired,'' said Margaret Mohrmann, director for the Academy for Gifted Students, a private school in Little Rock. ``A bunch of other kids had it and it was the same thing - they were wired.''
Surge was introduced by Coca-Cola in January to compete with PepsiCo's popular Mountain Dew, another citrus drink packed with caffeine and geared toward thrill-seeking young people. Mountain Dew has 37 milligrams of caffeine per eight ounces, while Surge packs 35.
Coca-Cola says the drink has only about 4 milligrams more caffeine than Coke and a fraction of the 184 milligrams in a cup of coffee.
``There were a couple of schools that had a concern about the product, but when we shared the product information, they seemed to be satisfied,'' said Coca-Cola spokesman Mark Martin.
None of that really matters to 17-year-old Marshall Pittman, who says he chugs Surge at Little Rock's Hall High School because: ``It's a good, cheap buzz.''
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ukrainian immigrant indicted in Cosby killing
LOS ANGELES - Mikail ``Michael'' Markhasev was indicted Friday in the roadside slaying of Bill Cosby's son, a move that allows prosecutors to skip a preliminary hearing.
The 18-year-old Ukrainian immigrant smiled and talked to his attorneys during the brief appearance before Superior Court Judge John Reid.
Reid signed an order sealing the indictment and all grand jury testimony until an arraignment May 1. Because it was sealed, the precise charges weren't immediately made public.
Ennis Cosby, 27, was killed on Jan. 16 when he stopped on a freeway off ramp to change a flat tire on his Mercedes-Benz.
- ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB