KARUNA SHINSHO, ASIA TONIGHT: The lawyer of a former Ku Klux Klansman says he will ask for a new trial for his client. Thomas Blanton was sentenced yesterday to life in prison for his role in a church bombing almost 40 years ago. As Brian Cabell has more on the man, the trial and a bombing helped galvanize the U.S. civil rights movement.</s>BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His attorney described Tom Blanton as a young man as a racist, a womanizer, a drunk and a loudmouth. Now he's a convicted bomber.</s>JOHN ROBBINS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I'm not surprised at this verdict. I guess I was, in the back of my mind, probably expecting it because of where we were. And just the raw emotion of this case is just incredible.</s>CABELL: It was a case that shocked the nation back in 1963: Four girls were killed when a bomb exploded at their church as they were preparing for a service. One man was convicted in the case in 1977, but other suspects, including Blanton, went uncharged until recently. It was a tough case for prosecutors to revive, after almost 38 years.</s>DOUG JONES, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: I had no trepidation. It needed to be examined. It needed to be looked at. This community and these families deserved a last look at this evidence.</s>CABELL: That last look resulted in a conviction, and now 62-year- old Tom Blanton, a former Klansman, faces the likelihood of spending the rest of his life in prison. Brian Cabell, CNN, Birmingham, Alabama.
Former Klansman Sentenced In 1963 Church Bombing