BabyGirl
03-16-2005, 08:05 PM
Blake found not guilty in wife's killing
Juror: 'We just didn't have enough evidence'
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Four years of a real-life crime story ended Wednesday for actor Robert Blake, the star of "In Cold Blood" and "Baretta," when a California jury acquitted him of murder in the 2001 slaying of his wife.
Blake, 71, met the verdicts with sobs and embraced his lawyer after the announcement, which followed more than a week of deliberations.
Blake was charged with one count of murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait and two counts of solicitation of murder in the death of Bonny Lee Bakley, 44. He would have faced a sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Jurors acquitted him of the murder count as well as one count of solicitation of murder. They deadlocked on a second solicitation count, with the vote 11-1 in favor of a not-guilty verdict.
Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp dismissed the remaining count, saying a retrial on that count "would not result in anything different."
In the moments before the verdict, Blake sat at the defense table, almost with a scowl on his face. When the not guilty verdict was read, he smiled, leaned over and hugged his attorney. He then placed his head on the table and sobbed. At one point, he nearly collapsed; hands shaking, he fumbled with a bottle of water his lawyer gave him.
"I'm pretty surprised," CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "It sure seemed like he was the only person with the opportunity, the motive and the means to kill [Bakley].
"But there was no eyewitness. There was no murder weapon established," Toobin said. "The jury didn't buy it, and the jury didn't buy the whole prosecution's case."
Later, juror Lorie Moore said the prosecution did not prove its case.
"We just didn't have enough evidence to say whether he did or if he didn't" commit the crimes, she said.
Bakley was shot to death May 4, 2001, outside Blake's favorite Italian restaurant in Studio City, after the two had dinner.
Blake had said he left Bakley in the car while he returned to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he had left behind. He told detectives he was armed because his wife feared someone was stalking her.
"This really was a story out of a bad novel," Toobin said.
Blake got his start in the "Our Gang" comedies of the 1930s and '40s, made his mark as an adult in films like "In Cold Blood" and "Tell Them Willie Boy is Here," and starred in the 1970s detective show "Baretta."
He married Bakley in November 2000, after DNA tests indicated he was the father of the daughter Bakley gave birth to that June. They lived separately, and Bakley stayed in a bungalow behind Blake's four-bedroom house in Studio City.
Bakley initially claimed the child was fathered by either Blake or Christian Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando.
Blake was represented by Gerald Schwartzbach, his fourth lawyer. Two others -- Harland Braun and Jennifer Keller -- quit over Blake's insistence on doing television interviews while awaiting trial.
A third, Thomas Mesereau Jr., was dismissed after citing "irreconcilable differences" with his client. Mesereau now represents embattled pop star Michael Jackson.
"This case just dragged on and on," Toobin said. "The key moment in the case was when Robert Blake was released on bail" -- in March 2003.
"Mesereau got him out on bail," Toobin said. "Now it looks like he's never going back in."
Juror: 'We just didn't have enough evidence'
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Four years of a real-life crime story ended Wednesday for actor Robert Blake, the star of "In Cold Blood" and "Baretta," when a California jury acquitted him of murder in the 2001 slaying of his wife.
Blake, 71, met the verdicts with sobs and embraced his lawyer after the announcement, which followed more than a week of deliberations.
Blake was charged with one count of murder with a special circumstance of lying in wait and two counts of solicitation of murder in the death of Bonny Lee Bakley, 44. He would have faced a sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Jurors acquitted him of the murder count as well as one count of solicitation of murder. They deadlocked on a second solicitation count, with the vote 11-1 in favor of a not-guilty verdict.
Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp dismissed the remaining count, saying a retrial on that count "would not result in anything different."
In the moments before the verdict, Blake sat at the defense table, almost with a scowl on his face. When the not guilty verdict was read, he smiled, leaned over and hugged his attorney. He then placed his head on the table and sobbed. At one point, he nearly collapsed; hands shaking, he fumbled with a bottle of water his lawyer gave him.
"I'm pretty surprised," CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "It sure seemed like he was the only person with the opportunity, the motive and the means to kill [Bakley].
"But there was no eyewitness. There was no murder weapon established," Toobin said. "The jury didn't buy it, and the jury didn't buy the whole prosecution's case."
Later, juror Lorie Moore said the prosecution did not prove its case.
"We just didn't have enough evidence to say whether he did or if he didn't" commit the crimes, she said.
Bakley was shot to death May 4, 2001, outside Blake's favorite Italian restaurant in Studio City, after the two had dinner.
Blake had said he left Bakley in the car while he returned to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he had left behind. He told detectives he was armed because his wife feared someone was stalking her.
"This really was a story out of a bad novel," Toobin said.
Blake got his start in the "Our Gang" comedies of the 1930s and '40s, made his mark as an adult in films like "In Cold Blood" and "Tell Them Willie Boy is Here," and starred in the 1970s detective show "Baretta."
He married Bakley in November 2000, after DNA tests indicated he was the father of the daughter Bakley gave birth to that June. They lived separately, and Bakley stayed in a bungalow behind Blake's four-bedroom house in Studio City.
Bakley initially claimed the child was fathered by either Blake or Christian Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando.
Blake was represented by Gerald Schwartzbach, his fourth lawyer. Two others -- Harland Braun and Jennifer Keller -- quit over Blake's insistence on doing television interviews while awaiting trial.
A third, Thomas Mesereau Jr., was dismissed after citing "irreconcilable differences" with his client. Mesereau now represents embattled pop star Michael Jackson.
"This case just dragged on and on," Toobin said. "The key moment in the case was when Robert Blake was released on bail" -- in March 2003.
"Mesereau got him out on bail," Toobin said. "Now it looks like he's never going back in."