Church bombing jury mostly white

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - A mostly white jury will hear the murder trial of a former Ku Klux Klansman accused of participating in a church bombing that killed four black girls in 1963, one of the most notorious crimes of the civil rights era. <br> <br> Defense attorneys and prosecutors on Monday picked 12 whites and four blacks to serve as jurors in the trial of Bobby Frank Cherry. Which four will be alternates rather than members of the 12-person jury will not be disclosed until later.<br> <br> Cherry, 71, is accused of helping fellow Klansmen plant a powerful bomb outside the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a downtown rallying site for demonstrators seeking an end to segregation. <br> <br> The blast killed Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, all 14, and Denise McNair, 11, as they got ready for a Sunday morning service on Sept. 15, 1963. It was the deadliest act of violence during the civil rights era. <br> <br> The jury panel is made up of nine white women, three white men and four black men. Defense attorney Mickey Johnson said black women were the largest group of potential jurors he removed from the panel. But Johnson said jury selection was based on more than race. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t think the breakdown on racial lines will be as important as people think it will be,&#39;&#39; he said after the judge lifted a gag order imposed during jury selection. <br> <br> Prosecutor Doug Jones said he was pleased with the jury. ``You try to strike a fair jury, and that&#39;s what we believe we have done,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Circuit Judge James Garrett had previously ruled that Cherry was not mentally competent for trial, but he changed his mind in January after experts concluded Cherry was faking mental illness. <br> <br> The retired trucker, who now lives in Mabank, Texas, was part of a group of Klansmen questioned by the FBI within days of the blast. He has always denied involvement. <br> <br> However, he was indicted along with another ex-Klansman, Thomas Blanton Jr., on murder charges in August 2000. <br> <br> Blanton was found guilty last year and is serving a life sentence. Another Klansman, Robert Chambliss, was convicted in the bombing in 1977 and died in prison. A fourth suspect, Herman Cash, died without being charged. <br> <br> Cherry could get life in prison if convicted.

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