Judge Birmingham has been invited to share an ethics presentation by the Dallas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association based on his research into the Birmingham Church Bombing trial. “The CLE will give a detailed account of the trial against Robert E. Chambliss for his role in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15th, 1963 that killed Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley.” The lecture is a precursor to the next installment of Judge Birmingham’s podcast, “A Murderous Design” called “Dynamite Bob and the Cahaba River Bridge Boys.” Find out more about the project and how to sign up for the CLE after the jump.
The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama became the rallying point for the civil rights movement. On Sunday, September 15th, 1963, a bomb placed under a stairwell immediately adjacent to the eastern wall exploded at 10:24 A.M. The blast killed the 4 girls and injured many others. The case went cold until the newly elected Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened it in the early 1970’s. In 1977, Baxley and his team indicted and tried Robert E. Chambliss for the crime. Based on the authentic trial transcript, Judge Birmingham will outline the proof against Chambliss, his ties to a group of dissidents dissatisfied with the efforts by the KKK to stop integration that met secretly under the Cahaba River Bridge, and the strategies used by the defense. The presentation will be one of 3 ethics presentations hosted by DCDLA at Lone Star Park on June 5th, 2026 at 2:00 PM. Lawyers can sign up for the program by clicking here.
Judge Birmingham will release the case study on his documentary podcast “A Murderous Design” called “Dynamite Bob and the Cahaba River Bridge Boys” on the 63rd anniversary of the crime, September 15th, 2026. With the help of his friend Rapper The D.O.C., Birmingham recorded the vocal narration in February at a studio on the campus of the University of Texas at Dallas. He is currently composing a musical score for the show and collating the research materials for public reference.
“Dynamite Bob and The Cahaba River Bridge Boys” will be the 6th documentary podcast in the series and will be available after release on all podcast streaming services. In the previous 5 documentaries, Judge Birmingham covered the trials against Charles Manson’s Chief Lieutenant Charles “Tex” Watson, Dallas serial killer Charles Albright called “Enucleated,” two men for the murders of 3 Dallas Sheriff’s Officers called “The Trinity River Massacre,” “The Assassin’s Assassin” Jack Ruby, and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy James McVeigh. All of the shows and related materials can be found at AMurderousDesign.com.