Lawsuit Brought By Martin Luther King Jr.’s Estate is Dismissed

At the end of March, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit that Martin Luther King Jr.’s estate filed against Howard Ballou, a news anchor. My previous blog about this lawsuit can be found here. Ballou noted that he was pleased the judge realized how frivolous the law suit was, and how upset he was that the estate tried to stain his mother’s character. The U.S. District judge Tome Lee was the one who dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, stating that there was no evidence to contradict Maude Ballou’s testimony that King gave her the documents in question.

The estate’s attorney is going to appeal the case to the 5^th Circuit court of appeals in New Orleans. Ballou’s attorney notes that until there is an appeal, Howard can do what he would like with the documents because the court has made a final judgment that they belong to him.

See Judge Tosses Martin Luther King Estate’s Suit Seeking Documents From Son of King’s Secretary, Estate of Denial, Apr. 2, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.