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Defense Rests in 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing Case

Aired May 20, 2002 - 14:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The defense has rested its case today in the trial over a 1963 church bombing that took place in Birmingham, Alabama. All of this resting after a witness today said he did not see Bobby Frank Cherry with other Klansmen on the night before that deadly blast. Our national correspondent Gary Tuchman making his way to Birmingham with the latest as this case winds down. Gary, good afternoon.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good afternoon to you. And the defense has now rested in the case of Bobby Frank Cherry. He's the 71-year-old former Ku Klux Klansmen who allegedly bombed a church here in Birmingham almost 39 years ago, a bombing that killed four young African-American girls.

Cherry is currently free on bond, but he faces the possibility of life in prison if found guilty of the four murder charges and four arson charges against him. Five people have testified during the six- day trial saying that bragged about this crime over the years, including his own granddaughter and his ex-wife. But others have testified that he had never bragged about it and hasn't even bragged about being a racist over the years. And those people who testified to that were his son and his grandson.

Now, the four young women who were killed back in 1963, September 15 to be exact, one of them was 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair. She would have been 50 years old this year. Also, 14-year-old Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and Carole Robertson. They were getting ready for services in the 16th Street Church when the bomb went off.

There are others who have been implicated in this crime. Robert Chambliss was convicted of murder in 1977. He died in prison in 1985. Last year, Thomas Blanton was convicted of his part in this crime. He is in jail for life. Another man never went to trial. He was implicated, but he died. His name is Herman Cache (ph). He died back in 1994.

Why has this all taken so long, 39 years later? Well, a major reason for that was the FBI director at that time, J. Edgar Hoover, he said there wasn't enough evidence to proceed back in the 1960s for, so this case just languished for a long time. We expect closing arguments to be tomorrow morning. It is very likely the case will go to the jury here in Birmingham tomorrow afternoon. Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: Want to pick up on that final point, Gary. What is the composition of this jury in this case?

TUCHMAN: Right now, there are 16 people sitting on the jury. Obviously, it's 12 people in the jury who make the final decision. But we are not being told at this point who the four alternates are. But it's nine men, seven women, and four of the people on the jury are African-American.

HEMMER: Gary, thanks. Gary Tuchman again watching the case in Birmingham, Alabama. Thank you, Gary.

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