Black History

November trial set in 1965 Ala civil rights death case

12:46 PM on 08/17/2010

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Former Alabama State Trooper James Bonard Fowler sits in the Perry County Courthouse prior to a hearing in Marion, Ala., Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

MARION, Ala. (AP) -- A judge has set a Nov. 29 trial date for a former Alabama state trooper charged with murder in the shooting death of a black man during a civil rights demonstration in 1965.

Circuit Judge Tommy Jones set the trial date Tuesday for 76-year-old James Bonard Fowler during a hearing in Marion.

Jones also rejected the district attorney's request to step aside from the case. District Attorney Michael Jackson said he will appeal the ruling, which could delay the trial.

It already has been more than three years since a grand jury indicted Fowler for murder in the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson during a civil rights protest that turned chaotic at Marion. Fowler says he fired on Jackson in self-defense.