James Earl Ray Out Of Coma

James Earl Ray is doing better.

The convicted killer of Martin Luther King Jr. has come out of his coma at a Nashville hospital. A prison spokeswoman says Ray is still in critical condition, but he recognizes people and knows where he is.

Jerry Ray says his brother had slipped into the coma Wednesday, after being admitted to the hospital Sunday.

Ray, 70, suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and has been in and out of the hospital more than a dozen times since December 1996. He underwent hernia surgery last month and was returned to prison 12 days later.

Ray is serving a 99-year prison sentence for King's 1968 murder. Ray confessed to the killing but recanted three days later and has been fighting to get a trial ever since.

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