BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A judge Friday ordered further psychiatric testing for former Ku Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry, reviving prosecutors' hopes he will one day be declared fit to stand trial in a 1963 church bombing that killed four black girls.
Circuit Judge James Garrett last month ruled the 72-year-old Cherry was mentally incompetent, a decision that set off protest rallies by black leaders.
Prosecutor Doug Jones said the testing likely would lead to a second mental competency hearing. He said the law makes it easier to prove mental fitness at a second hearing than it did at the first.
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"It means our burden is easier," Jones said. "If he can be restored to competency, they'll find it out."