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CNN Live At Daybreak

Conviction Comes 39 Years After Bomb Rocked Birmingham Church

Aired May 23, 2002 - 05:35   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Attorneys for a former member of the Ku Klux Klan plan to appeal his murder conviction in the bombing of a church in 1963. The conviction comes 39 years after the bomb rocked a Birmingham church, killing four African-American schoolgirls and shocking a nation.

Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bobby Frank Cherry, the back of his head barely visible in the front of the courtroom, had no noticeable reaction when he was declared guilty of four counts of first degree murder. Outside, his family members consoled each other. His attorneys were not shocked at the outcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I think we present the case that we intended the jury to hear, and I think that's what they heard. They considered it and that was the outcome.

TUCHMAN: Cherry was asked by the judge if he wanted to say anything about his bombing conviction. News media members were not allowed to record sound during the trial. But the former Ku Klux Klan member turned to prosecutors and said, "The whole bunch has lied all the way through this thing. I told the truth. I don't know why I'm going to jail for nothing. I haven't done anything."

Prosecutors were pleased that the nine whites and three African- Americans on the jury felt differently.

DOUG JONES, PROSECUTOR: This verdict today doesn't have just the historical significance of 1963. This verdict today sends a message that's important today, that the people that bomb and kill our innocent citizens and children, we will never give up. It doesn't matter how long it takes, we will never give up.

TUCHMAN: The 1963 bombing, which killed four young African- American girls, happened just days after Birmingham began integrating its public schools. The 16th Street Baptist Church was a center for the civil rights movement. Fourteen-year-old Addie May Collins was one of the girls killed. Her sister Sara was seriously wounded, temporarily blinded in both eyes. She now has sight in one eye and attended the trial.

SARA COLLINS RUDOLPH, VICTIM'S SISTER: And I just thank God for one thing, that justice has prevailed.

TUCHMAN: Just minutes after the verdict, this picture was taken, Bobby Frank Cherry's mug shot as a convicted murderer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Cherry has been sentenced to life in prison.

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