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American Morning

Guilty Verdict Handed Down in Church Bombing Case

Aired May 02, 2001 - 10:12   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now let's set the stage in Birmingham. It took nearly 40 years of investigation but a mere two- and-a-half hours of deliberations for a guilty verdict to be returned against Thomas Blanton Jr. He will serve life in prison for the 1963 church bombing that killed four African-American girls.

Blanton is the second former Klansman to be convicted. The trial of a third suspect has been delayed over questions about his mental competency.

For some local perspective on the significance of this verdict, let's turn now to Richard Arrington. He is the first African American to be elected mayor of Birmingham. And he has spent some 20 years or more, I believe, in that office.

Mayor Arrington joins us now live. We appreciate your time this morning, Your Honor. First of all, what does this mean to you and your city this morning to have this verdict handed in?

RICHARD ARRINGTON, FORMER MAYOR OF BIRMINGHAM: Well, it's a very positive development for us. I think justice spoke loud and clear here in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday in a long-delayed case, and reached out and called into accountability an individual who had been a part of perpetrating one of the most heinous crimes in this country. So Birmingham feels a whole lot better today I'm sure.

HARRIS: Now, going into it, would you have expected Birmingham to feel better about this? There had been some concern going in that perhaps the white community would have felt like this was picking a scab, if you will, on the city and bringing up some things from its past that didn't necessarily have to be roused.

ARRINGTON: Well, there have always been those in this community who have said it would be better to let this go. It's something in the past. Let's not reopen an old wound.

But I think that's a minority voice here. The scar was so deep and crime so ugly that there's always been a real concern in that we just felt we could not ever rest and will not rest until all of these suspects are brought before the bar of justice.

HARRIS: Are you concerned at all about whether or not there could be arguments made that perhaps Mr. Blanton did not get a fair trial in this case? In fact, the jury only deliberated three, two- and-a-half hours, or three hours or so in this case. And the fact that the FBI tapes that were used and may have been the cornerstone of the prosecution's case against him may be tapes that were gained illegally or made illegally?

ARRINGTON: Well, I think those arguments about the tapes have gone all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. And they have not held up. And they are the determiners of our judicial system, the determiners of whether or not evidence is to be allowed.

But I think -- well, I'll tell you, what I thought earlier on in the first couple of weeks, that it was going to be a tough case.

HARRIS: Yeah.

ARRINGTON: But when I listened to the closing arguments yesterday, I thought the U.S. attorneys pieced it together. And I left that courtroom feeling we have got a case, and we are going to get a conviction here.

HARRIS: You know, it's interesting to me to see that the jury did deliberate only for a couple of hours. And if the case was that overwhelming, why do you think it did take so long for it to come to this point and finally achieve some sort of resolution?

ARRINGTON: Well, it took a lot of time for things to change here. They were not convicting whites -- excuse me -- whites for crimes against blacks. There was a conspiracy of silence in this city.

It took us 14 years to try the first person in that case and another 20-some-odd years to try Mr. Blanton because no politician in Alabama, here in Birmingham or elsewhere, and even in the federal government would touch the case. It was, as I said, a conspiracy of silence. And there was some hope it would just go away. But I don't think it can ever go away.

HARRIS: Well, finally, speaking of conspiracy, there is one last figure involved in this who still has to -- his fate must be decided somehow, some way. And that's Bobby Frank Cherry. We understand now that prosecutors are not pursuing him at the moment because there's questions about his competency. I don't ever remember hearing that in all the reading I've done on the history of this case over the years that he had had this problem before. Do you think there's anything afoot there?

ARRINGTON: Well, I don't know. I hope that will not hold up because in Alabama and in Texas and all, we have tried and even sent to the death chamber people who have been demented far more than they claim Mr. Cherry is demented. I think he will be able -- I certainly hope he'll be able to assist in his defense.

But I tell you this. There cannot be any kind of closure unless Frank Cherry stands before the bar of justice, whatever the outcome.

HARRIS: Mayor Arrington, we'll be watching to see if that ever does happen. We sure do appreciate your time and your perspective this morning. Best of luck.

ARRINGTON: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: Take care.

ARRINGTON: Thank you.

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