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Ex-Klansman to appeal church bombing conviction

Blanton, now 62, was sentenced to life in prison after the jury took just two hours of deliberations to find the former Klansman guilty

In this story: FBI tapes may be key to appeal One suspect may not face trial RELATED STORIES, SITES

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- A former Klansman convicted of bombing a black church in 1963 will appeal the "emotional" verdict, his lawyer said Wednesday.

A Birmingham jury convicted Thomas Blanton on four counts of first-degree murder late Tuesday in the attack on the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Four African-American girls died in the blast.

Blanton, now 62, was sentenced to life in prison. The jury -- one man and 11 women, four blacks and eight whites -- took just two hours of deliberations to find him guilty.

VIDEO A biracial jury convicts Thomas Blanton Jr. in the 1963 bombing deaths of four girls in a black Birmingham church. CNN's Brian Cabell reports Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)  ALSO • Birmingham bombing prosecutor expresses confidence on the legal merits of case • Brian Cabell: Quick guilty verdict in Birmingham church bombing trial • Birmingham church bombing chronology   LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

"I never thought I'd live to see this day," Danny Ransom, a friend of 11-year-old bombing victim Denise McNair, told CNN. "But you know, time has a way of changing things and changing people."

The bombing was one of the major flashpoints of the civil-rights movement. Defense lawyer John Robbins said Blanton never had a fair chance with the case being tried in a Birmingham courtroom.

"Everybody in this community knows something about this," Robbins said. "For 37 years it has been written in books and newspapers that my client is guilty, and if you say it enough, people are gonna believe it.

"You've got four little girls that didn't deserve to die, absolutely not," Robbins continued. "It was a tragedy, but because of this event and how it was linked to this city, there was, I feel, a lot of pressure in the community to convict."

Former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington said, however, that justice had been served. "It took a lot of time for things to change here," he said Wednesday.

"It took us 14 years to try the first person in this case and another 20 some-odd years to try Mr. Blanton," Arrington, the city's first black mayor, said. "No politician in Alabama, here in Birmingham or elsewhere or even in the federal government would touch this case."

Alpha Robertson's daughter, Carole, was one of four young girls killed in 1963 by a bomb at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church

FBI tapes may be key to appeal

The focus of the appeal may be a nearly 40-year-old set of FBI tapes. The FBI planted a hidden microphone in Blanton's apartment in 1964 and taped his conversations with Mitchell Burns, a fellow Klansman-turned-informant.

Circuit Judge James Garrett allowed prosecutors to play the tapes for the jury.

"At the time the tape was obtained, that tape was not admissible in court and we say it was taken in violation of my client's Fourth Amendment rights," Robbins said.

Prosecuting attorney Doug Jones told CNN he doesn't believe the use of the tapes as evidence against Blanton will be overturned if appealed.

"Those tapes were not likely to have ever been able be used in the 1960s," Jones said. "But there have been a lot of changes in the law, and the way people look at those tapes."

One suspect may not face trial

Blanton is one of four men tied to the bombing, prosecutors say. Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss was convicted of murder in 1977 and died in prison. Suspect Herman Cash, died before he was charged.

Bobby Frank Cherry, 71, might never face trial after Garrett ruled this month Cherry is not mentally competent to assist his attorneys.

The aftermath of the 1963 16th Street Baptist church bombing

Arrington said he hoped Cherry would be tried.

"In Alabama and 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," he said. "I certainly hope he is able to assist in his defense. But I tell you this: There cannot be any justice unless Frank Cherry stands before the bar of justice, whatever the outcome."

The trial, which began April 24, reopened old wounds in Birmingham. The court heard from family members whose loved ones were killed when a dynamite blast ripped through the church on a Sunday morning on September 15, 1963. Killed in the explosion were 11-year-old Denise McNair and 14-year-olds Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson.

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was a nerve center for civil-rights advocates who took to the streets in the 1960s to protest Birmingham's segregation laws.

Church bombing jurors hear tape of Blanton
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Large jury pool picked for church bombing trial
April 16, 2001
Accused church bombers on trial after 37 years
April 9, 2001
Judge sets trial date in Birmingham church bombing case
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The ghosts of Alabama
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