Robert Blake Faces Uphill Defense Challenge

Dec. 6, 2004 — -- On the surface, it appears Robert Blake's defense is hamstrung in his murder trial for the slaying of his wife.

Opening statements were expected to begin today in Blake's trial in the May 2001 shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. However, an investigation of a recent break-in, in which a computer belonging to Blake's attorney was stolen, has delayed opening statements until Dec. 20. A court representative had said in reports last week that the computer contained the "heart and soul" of Blake's defense. Though defense attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach originally had vowed to press on, he told the court today that he would need more time to prepare because of the lost files.

Blake, 71, is charged with murder and solicitation to commit murder as prosecutors contend that he tried to hire others to kill his wife. Bakley, 44, was shot in the head as she sat in their car after she and Blake had dined at Vitello's, a favorite restaurant of the actor. Blake, best known for the 1970s cop TV drama "Baretta," married Bakley after DNA tests showed he was the father of her infant daughter. Prosecutors contend Blake killed Bakley to get her out of his life and prevent her from becoming a bad influence on the baby. If convicted of murder, he could face life in prison.

Blake denies any role in the killing. He said he left Bakley in the car that night and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a gun he had left at their table, and came back to the car to discover his wife had been shot.

The defense has pointed out that Bakley made a lot of enemies during her life. She has been described as a con woman with a criminal record who bilked men out of money through lonely-hearts scams and used several aliases. Blake, his friends and relatives of Bakley have said she had always wanted to be the wife of a movie star and spent much of her life pursuing famous people.

One of those was apparently Christian Brando, son of the late actor Marlon Brando. The defense wanted to present the theory that Brando, not Blake, was involved in the killing, but the judge refused to allow it because of a lack of evidence.

Some observers say Blake's attorneys, while somewhat hampered by the judge's ruling, may still be able to suggest that someone else killed Bakley, as long as they do not specifically name an alleged potential murderer.

"That is exactly what I would expect the defense to do," said Ronald Carlson, professor of law at the University of Georgia. "The defense will have to walk a delicate line in suggesting there was a conspiracy in the killing of Robert Blake's wife with naming the suspected mastermind. The defense will say two things: (a) He didn't do it and (b) Someone else did it and we have a pretty good idea that Bonny Lee Bakley was killed as a result of malice and of the person involved in the slaying."

Alleged 'Hit Men' Sing

Former stuntman Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, one of the prosecution's key witnesses, testified in pretrial hearings that Blake asked him to kill his wife. Hambleton and another former stuntman, Gary McLarty, both claim that Blake wanted to find a hit man to kill Bakley.

The defense, led by Schwartzbach, agrees there was a conspiracy to kill Bakley, but insists Blake was not involved. Schwartzbach believes Christian Brando, who served six years in prison for manslaughter and dated Bakley in 2000, may have played a role in the slaying.

Bakley had led Brando to believe that he was the father of her daughter until paternity tests showed Blake was the real father. A telephone conversation taped by Bakley records an angry Brando telling her she was lucky someone had not put a bullet in her head.

In addition, former Blake attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. tried to convince the judge to admit testimony from a woman who said she had overheard a phone conversation between Brando and someone named "Duffy" in which there was talk of putting a bullet through Bakley's head. However, the judge disallowed the testimony, finding that the witness lacked credibility.

Circumstantial Prosecution Battles a Limited Defense

Investigators interviewed Brando and determined he was not involved in Bakley's death. Brando's representatives have said he was in Washington state at the time of the killing. Judge Darlene Schempp has barred Blake's defense from specifically implicating Brando but Schwartzbach can ask witnesses if someone else solicited them in Bakley's slaying.

Some believe Schempp has to be careful not to restrict Schwartzbach too much, for fear of compromising Blake's right to an adequate defense.

"She has to be careful in that she doesn't want to overstretch the limits she's placed because Blake has a constitutional right to a fair defense. The judge has to be careful not to exclude evidence that could be exculpable for the defendant," said Carlson. "But she added that the defense will be allowed to ask the stuntman [Hambleton] whether he was asked to orchestrate the killing on behalf of someone else."

Despite the claims of two stuntmen, the prosecution's case against Blake is circumstantial. There are no known eyewitnesses to the shooting. Police found the murder weapon but were not able to link it directly to Blake.

ABC News has reported that investigators found gun residue on Blake's hands, but examiners reportedly say they are not consistent with someone who had fired a gun. Blake did own a gun and said he had gone back in the restaurant to retrieve his weapon when Bakley was killed. In addition, the defense has argued that Hambleton has a motive to divert attention away from his own potential involvement in Bakley's killings and implicate Blake.

However, the nearly identical claims of two former stuntmen may provide a difficult obstacle to Blake's hopes for an acquittal.

"Clearly, this is a circumstantial case," said California defense attorney Steve Cron. "There is no direct link to evidence. No one saw him pull the trigger. But you have all these so-called hit men who say they were asked to kill Bonny Lee Bakley."

Will 'Baretta' Testify?

Ultimately, credibility may decide Blake's case, and it remains to be seen whether he will take the stand.

Arguably, Blake's behavior has been erratic as he has had multiple attorneys in the three years since Bakley's slaying. In a 2003 interview given to ABC News' Barbara Walters before he was released from prison, Blake appeared animated, scared and angry when he denied killing his wife. His attorneys may advise that he not testify but he also may insist on taking the stand.

"It's way too early to tell," said Cron. "There's a small number of cases where you actually know early on whether you will put your client on the stand. Much of it will depend on how the case is going, whether you have nothing to lose or whether you're decimating the prosecution."

Nonetheless, the actor who first reached stardom as a child in the "Our Gang" series in the 1940s, may believe his life is over, whether he is convicted or is acquitted. He told Walters he was not worried about the possibility of a murder conviction.

"What do I care?" Blake said. "How do you kill a dead man? They [the police] took away my entire past. They took away my entire future. What's left for them to take?"