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Opening statements in 1963 church bombing trial

Prosecutor: Cherry wore crime 'like a badge of honor'

Bobby Frank Cherry has always maintained his innocence in the 1963 bombing of the Birmingham, Alabama, church.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- The prosecuting attorney in the case of the 1963 Alabama church bombing that killed four black girls said Tuesday that former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry, "wore this crime on his chest like a badge of honor."

Attorneys for both sides took about 20 minutes each to deliver their opening statements in the long-delayed murder trial.

Prosecutor Robert Posey implied that he was planning to present family members and friends who would blame 71-year-old graying and bespectacled Cherry for the bombing.

"It was understood by most of [Cherry's] family that he was responsible," Posey said. "His children knew the story. He said his only regret was that more people hadn't died in the blast."

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Defense attorney Mickey Johnson said Cherry was being framed.

"This was never an investigation. It was a target," Johnson said.

"Bobby Cherry did not do this. He would not have boasted of this. You will not see a credible witness take this stand and tell you he would have boasted of this."

Twelve whites and four blacks made up the 16 slots at Jefferson County Criminal Court, a mile from Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where the attack occurred. Court officials did not specify which of the 16 would serve as alternates.

Cherry is charged with four counts of murder and four counts of arson in the case. If convicted, he faces a maximum life prison term.

The scene at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham following the bombing.

The girls were killed instantly on September 15, 1963, crushed by bricks and mortar.

One other former Klansman convicted in the case died in prison; another suspect died before he could be tried. Tom Blanton was tried and convicted of murder last year and is serving a life term.

Last year, Cherry was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial, but a subsequent ruling found him competent. He has professed innocence.