NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – James Earl Ray, convicted killer of Dr. Martin Luther KingJr., once told his lawyer that he doubted a jury would believe that white racists were responsible for the slaying.

His comment is included in documents in the estate of Jack Kershaw, a Nashville attorney who represented Ray in the mid-1970s in his attempt to win a full trial.     Ray had pleaded guilty in Memphis in 1969 to killing the civil rights leader there in 1968 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison, but recanted the confession three days later. He died in prison in 1998.

The comment in a transcript was released by Case Antiques Inc., Auctions & Appraisals, which will sell the documents at auction Jan. 28 in Knoxville.