Jay Fred Friedman, a Memphis defense attorney and a food and wine connoisseur, died Wednesday night at Baptist Memorial Hospital East after a long illness. He was 57. Mr. Friedman was known for his criminal trial work on state and federal levels. He also was involved in controversial and highly publicized trials. In 1968, he represented Charles Quitman Stephens, who is believed to be the only person who could identify James Earl Ray as the assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Friedman also was involved as defense attorney in two highly publicized trials in the early 1970s. He successfully defended Lewis Chandler Jr. against murder charges, but lost his defense of Delthia Graves. Mr. Friedman was indicted by a federal grand jury in 1986, but the charges were dismissed. He was a highly respected connoisseur of wine and food. He was a cellar master with the Memphis Wine & Food Society, former president of the Memphis Wine Taster's Club and a member of the Memphis Chapter of the International Wine & Food Society, and the Chaine des Rotisseurs. He attended the University of Arkansas and the University of Texas before graduating from the old Southern College of Law. Mr. Friedman was a member of the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association and American Bar Association, and was a former member of the Trial Lawyers Association. He leaves his wife, Betty Friedman; three sons, Eric J. Friedman, Charles Manly and Steven Manly, all of Memphis; a sister, Jeanne Frank of Denver, Colo.; a brother, Benno Friedman of Memphis, and a granddaughter. A memorial service will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Memorial Park Funeral Home. The family requests that any memorials be made to Memphis Interfaith Association (MIFA) or Temple Israel. (Published in The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN, on March 20, 1992)