April 9, 2001 - CNN
Web posted at: 4:01 p.m. EDT (2001 GMT)
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Bobby Frank Cherry
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April
2, 2001 - A judge rejected a request by
lawyers for Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry to
move the trial out of Birmingham, Alabama. The
defense argued that pre-trial publicity and the
emotional nature of the case warranted a change of
venue. The men face life in prison if convicted of
first-degree murder.
May 17,
2000 -- Former Ku Klux Klan members Thomas
Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry surrender to
authorities after a Jefferson County, Alabama, grand
jury indicts on first-degree murder charges in
connection with the 1963 Birmingham church bombing
that killed four African-American girls.
May 4,
2000 -- A lawyer for long-time bombing
suspect Bobby Frank Cherry says his client rejected
a deal in which he would receive probation if he
pleaded guilty to transporting explosives over state
lines. Cherry continued to deny any involvement in
the bombing. Cherry was in jail in Texas on charges
of raping his stepdaughter in 1971.
July
10, 1997 -- The FBI reopens its investigation
into the Birmingham church bombing after a secret,
year-long review.
October,
1988 -- Federal and state prosecutors reopen
their investigation into the Sixteenth Street
Baptist Church bombing after Gary A. Tucker, a
former bus driver dying of cancer, said he helped
set the bomb. No new charges were filed.
October
29, 1985 -- Convicted bomber Robert Edward
Chambliss dies of natural causes at age 81 without
ever publicly admitting any role in the bombing.
1980
-- Jefferson County's district attorney reopens the
case after a U.S. Justice Department report found
former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had blocked
evidence that prosecutors could have used. No
additional charges were filed.
1977
-- Robert Edward Chambliss is convicted of one count
of murder in the death of 11-year-old Carol Denise
McNair, one of four African-American girls killed in
the 1963 Birmingham church bombing.
1971
-- Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopens the
case.
1968
-- Federal authorities pull out of the investigation
without charges being filed.
1965
-- Birmingham FBI agents recommended that at least
four suspects be charged with the bombing. FBI
Director J. Edgar Hoover blocked the prosecution of
the suspects, saying the chance of winning a
conviction was "remote."
September
15, 1963 -- A dynamite bomb explodes at the
Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham,
Alabama, killing 11-year-old Carol Denise McNair and
14-year-olds Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and
Carole Robertson.
