THE NEW YORK TIMES
OP-ED THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2001
Why Did the FBI Hold Back Evidence?
Slow justice in Birmingham
church bombing.
By Bill Baxley
former Attorney General of Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — This week, a guilty verdict was
returned against Thomas Blanton for the dynamite bomb deaths of Denise
McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson on Sept. 15,
1963, in a Birmingham church. In 1977, as Alabama attorney general, I
prosecuted Mr. Blanton's associate Robert Chambliss for the same crime. It
took a long enough time to bring him to trial — and far too long,
unnecessarily long, to do the same with Mr. Blanton.
Within days of taking office as attorney general in
January 1971, I opened an investigation of these murders. After a few false
starts, my staff and I identified Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Blanton and Bobby Frank
Cherry as principals. These individuals had been identified by the FBI when
the 1963 bombing occurred.
Soon it became clear these men could not be
prosecuted without assistance from the FBI
For several years, I requested, demanded and begged the FBI for
evidence.
After we were repeatedly stonewalled, my faith in the
integrity of the FBI dissipated. What had at first seemed an innocent
bureaucratic shuffle was revealed to be a charade. In exasperation, I shared
my frustration with Jack Nelson, an Alabama native who was then Washington
bureau chief for The Los Angeles Times. He went to officials at the Justice
Department and threatened to reveal the FBI's refusal to cooperate with our
investigation. Only then did the FBI share its evidence.
We quickly pieced evidence from the FBI together with
our own. A jury of nine whites and three blacks convicted Mr. Chambliss. He
was sent to prison and died there, unrepentant.
Mr. Blanton and Mr. Cherry remained at large; we
lacked evidence as good as that we had had for Mr. Chambliss. I left
government and moved to Birmingham, where I was reminded daily of my
certainty of Mr. Blanton's and Mr. Cherry's guilt. I hoped someone would
come forward with more evidence. No one did.
In 1997, I learned that Doug Jones, the United States
Attorney in Birmingham, whom I knew to be ethical and highly competent, had
opened, once again, investigations of Mr. Blanton and Mr. Cherry. The two
men were indicted — and I was astonished to learn that the FBI had tape
recordings of Mr. Blanton from the 1960's that incriminated both of them. I
was also livid. For more than two decades, Mr. Blanton and Mr. Cherry evaded
indictment and prosecution because the FBI held back these recordings. This
was evidence we desperately needed in 1977 — evidence whose existence FBI
officials had denied. Had it been provided in 1977, we could have convicted
all three of these Klansmen.
I held my tongue when I learned of this deception. I
did so to prevent lawyers for Mr. Blanton and Mr. Cherry from trumpeting the
FBI's dishonesty as a distraction. Mr. Blanton has been convicted — thanks
greatly to the new evidence. Mr. Cherry, due to his alleged mental state,
may not be tried. There is no longer any reason for me to remain silent.
Why would the FBI aid Klansmen in avoidance of
prosecution? I don't know. I consider myself a practical person. I could
understand FBI reluctance to share information if it were actively pursuing
a case of its own. But all federal statutes of limitation had expired when
this deceit took place, and only in state court — Alabama has no statute
of limitations for murder — could a case against Mr. Blanton or Mr. Cherry
proceed. (Mr. Jones, the federal attorney, prosecuted the Blanton case on
Alabama's behalf.) Most of the tape recordings admissible against Mr.
Blanton in 2001 were admissible in 1977.
What excuse can the FBI have for
allowing Mr. Blanton to go free for 24 years with this smoking gun
evidence hidden in its files? How can the FBI justify this to the families
of four precious girls? I don't know. I do know that rank-and-file FBI
agents working with us were conscientious and championed our cause. The
disgust I feel is for those in higher places who did nothing.
A reprint of this article was included in the July
2001 Earth First! Bombing Case Update mailing, which included a Letter
to Friends and Supporters and the Summer 2001
Bombing Case Update
See also Prof. Howard
Zinn's statement on the FBI's long history of political repression
The Judi
Bari Web Site