Judge orders King children to talk

By Ernie Suggs

The AtlantaJournal-Constitution

A Fulton County Superior Court Judge on Monday ordered the children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to sit down and talk.

Judge Ural D. Glanville also ruled that a claim that Dexter King shirked his fudiciary duties as head of King, Inc., should be heard by a jury.

Bernice and Martin Luther King III sued Dexter Scott King last year in an attempt to force him to open the books to their father’s estate. The two claim that Dexter King has kept them in the dark regarding the financial operations of the estate. In a counter suit against his sister, Dexter King has asked a judge to force Bernice King to turn over a cache of love letters that were written between Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. The letters are part of Coretta Scott King’s personal papers.

Martin and Bernice told the judge that Dexter, who runs King, Inc., had not held a meeting since 2004.

Dexter King’s attorneys contended that the other King siblings never made a formal request for a meeting. The attorneys for Dexter King said that Martin and Bernice’s main reason for wanting a meeting was to oust Dexter.

Since the death of their mother and older sister, the three surviving Kings are the company’s sole shareholders.

Dexter King was not present at Monday’s hearing. Dexter King’s attorney said his client didn’t need to be in court, and besides, he couldn’t even if he wanted to because he was in rehab after a serious automobile accident in July.

“He has a severe injury to his leg and he was in the hospital quite some time for rehabilitation,” said Craig Frankel of the law firm Gaslowitz Frankel. “He is not allowed to travel.”

Frankel and Lin Wood, another attorney for Dexter King, confirmed that in July, he was involved in a serious two-car accident in California.

Wood said that someone hit King’s car and he suffered a shattered right femur.