In legal dispute over King papers, end not in sight

It could take months, if not years, before the personal papers of the late Coretta Scott King become public.

The legal family feud over which heir controls the hundreds of boxes of documents King left behind, including letters to and from her husband, civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., appears far from over.

Enlarge this image

Rich Addicks / raddicks@ajc.com

Dozens of boxes of Coretta Scott King’s personal papers are in dispute.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

A Fulton County judge has given the Rev. Bernice King and her brother Martin Luther King III, until Jan. 8 to turn over 80 boxes of their mother’s personal documents to the court.

Their attorney, Charles Mathis, said this week they will abide by the order. In November, a judge ordered that Bernice King and Martin Luther King III begin producing the documents — 80 boxes at a time. Before the judge’s order, the Kings had produced some boxes, but many of them contained other belongings of Coretta King’s and not just documents.

“We are researching our options,” Mathis said. “We plan to comply, under protest.”

The legal dispute started in July when Bernice King and Martin Luther King III filed suit against their brother, Dexter King, who heads King Inc., the family corporation that controls the intellectual property rights to their father’s work.

In that suit, Dexter King’s brother and sister accused him of misappropriating company funds and hiding financial documents from them.

In August, Dexter King countersued, accusing his brother and sister of obstructing the goals of the King Center for Nonviolent Change and of misusing the center’s name and facilities. Both sides dispute the allegations.

The question of who controls Coretta Scott King’s personal papers is at the center of the legal dispute.

Bernice King and Martin Luther King III argue that Dexter King should not be the sole decision-maker in how the documents are used.

Dexter King wants the documents to be used in an autobiography of Coretta Scott King and, in May, signed a $1.4 million book deal with a New York publisher. That deal has since been scrapped.

“We believe there would be tremendous interest in these papers both from a historical perspective and a marketing perspective,” said Craig Frankel, who is Dexter King’s attorney. “And now a book on Coretta Scott King would be most appropriate.”

Frankel was referring to the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, which is in part the fulfillment of a dream the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. shared more than 40 years ago.

Bernice King and Martin Luther King III say some of their mother’s personal records should remain private. They argue that, as board members of King Inc., they should have a say in such decisions.

They also argue that the dispute could be resolved if Dexter King, the company’s only other board member, would call a shareholder’s meeting. Last week, Fulton Superior Court judge Ural Glanville rejected a request that he order such a meeting.

Glanville also turned down an appeal of his order forcing Bernice King and Martin Luther King III to turn over some of their mother’s personal records to a “special master” — a court-appointed auditor — appointed to mediate the dispute. He also ordered Mathis’ clients to pay their brother’s legal costs to respond to that motion.

Mathis complained his clients have already been ordered to pay astronomical court costs for work performed by the special master, whose appointment they never agreed to, and, they contend, has no legal merit.

That includes a $115,000 bill he received last month for less than 17 days of work, he said.

Frankel said Bernice King and Martin Luther King III are fighting a losing battle.

“I’m hopeful and Dexter’s hopeful,” Frankel said, “that they [the King papers] will be released to the public eventually.”

Dozens of boxes of Coretta Scott King’s personal papers are in dispute.