Blake Jury Deliberates, Silently
Jurors in the Robert Blake murder case ended their third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
The panel deliberated for five and a half hours without asking any questions of the court or making any requests to review trial testimony. Deliberations are to resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Blake wasn't in court Tuesday. His attorney, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, has said Blake would only be present when required to do so by the judge.
Blake, 71, is accused of killing his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, after she allegedly tricked him into marrying her. Bakley, 44, was shot to death in May 2001 near Blake's favorite Italian restaurant in Studio City.
The actor is charged with murder, two counts of solicitation of murder and a special circumstance of lying in wait. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
"Generally speaking," says CBS News Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen, "the longer the deliberations, the more hopeful a defendant has a right to be."
"I don't think we are yet at the stage where prosecutors begin to get nervous but we are getting close, especially since the panel hasn't yet asked for any evidence or had any questions of the judge," says Cohen. "This means either that they are sailing along and we should have a verdict soon, or it means that they are stuck on some essential point that wouldn't be clarified by a readback of testimony."
The four-month trial wrapped up late Friday and jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before going home for the weekend. They also deliberated for a full day on Monday.
In his closing arguments, Schwartzbach portrayed the prosecution's key witnesses as liars and accused the police of bungling a rushed investigation.
Blake maintains someone else killed Bakley when he left her briefly in his car to retrieve a gun he left behind during dinner. He told detectives he was armed because his wife feared someone was stalking her.
Blake's .38-caliber revolver was not used to kill Bakley.
Deputy District Attorney Shellie Samuels told jurors in her closing arguments that Blake killed Bakley because she had tricked him into marrying her, by getting pregnant. She argued that Blake then became obsessed with protecting the baby from Bakley, who he believed was a con artist who sold promises of sex by mail.
Both sides agree that Blake married Bakley because of the baby, Rosie, and that Blake suspected his wife of using another of her children for pornography.
Schwartzbach argued Blake was willing to put up with Bakley for the sake of their daughter. Blake's defense also attacked the credibility of the prosecution's two key witnesses, a pair of admitted heavy drug users.