Blake Jury Reviews Testimony

Jurors in the Robert Blake murder trial Wednesday asked to review testimony from three people at the restaurant where the actor and his wife had dinner before she was shot and killed in May 2001.

It was the first time jurors have made such a request. The panel failed to reach a verdict after a third full day of deliberations, and was ordered to return to court Thursday morning.

Blake, 71, is accused of killing his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, who was shot near Blake's favorite Italian restaurant in Studio City.

Blake maintains someone else killed Bakley when he left her in his car to retrieve a gun he'd left at the restaurant. The .38-caliber revolver was not used to kill Bakley; the murder weapon was found in a nearby trash bin.

The jury spent much of the afternoon reviewing the statements of restaurant co-owner Steve Restivo, who testified Blake seemed to be acting normally during dinner.

The jury also reviewed testimony by a couple who live near the restaurant.

The couple testified they noticed Blake and later saw him alone, hurrying past them as they walked home along the same street where Blake's car was parked. They said he crossed the street in the direction of the car, but that they heard and saw nothing afterward.

Also Wednesday, Judge Darlene Schempp admonished a reporter from People magazine, whom the judge said approached four jurors during a break to give them her business card. The reporter said she thought it was permissible to simply make contact.

"Don't come near that jury again," the judge said.

The star of TV's "Baretta" and the movie "In Cold Blood" 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.

By Greg Risling