Judge Delays Ruling On Blake Bail
The judge in Robert Blake's Los Angeles murder case says he'll wait until June 27 to rule on defense motions for bail and to dismiss a special circumstance of lying in wait.
The judge says he needs more time to review court papers, some of which weren't filed until Tuesday.
Trying to keep Blake behind bars until his trial, prosecutors have alleged that the actor spent months planning his wife's murder while his bodyguard researched how to make firearms silencers.
The prosecutors filed documents Monday detailing the allegations. Deputy District Attorneys Pat Dixon and Greg Dohi said the charge of "lying in wait" was justified by the evidence, and the term was even used by a stuntman who said he was solicited by Blake to commit the murder.
The documents were filed in response to a defense claim that the lying-in-wait statute is unconstitutional and a technicality being used to keep Blake behind bars.
He has been jailed since April 18, when he was arrested in the May 4, 2001, killing of Bonny Lee Bakley.
"The evidence shows that Bonny Lee Bakley was ambushed after months of planning," the prosecutors said. "If this case does not qualify as an intentional murder by means of lying in wait, it is hard to imagine a case that does."
In an affidavit, police Detective Ronald Y. Ito said he spoke to a stuntman who said Blake solicited him to kill Bakley.
Prosecutors said they believe Blake would flee the country if released on bail.
"He has little reason to stay: Defendant Blake's infant daughter is now in the custody of his older daughter. He clearly has the means to go anywhere in the world he wants," the motion said.
Police found on Blake's coffee table a slip of paper with the phone number of his travel agency. An agency employee said that within a month of the murder, Blake was asking about trips to Mexico, prosecutors said.
The former star of the 1970s "Baretta" TV series has been charged with murder, two counts of soliciting his wife's murder, conspiracy and the special circumstance of lying in wait. His bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, has been charged with conspiracy and is free on $1 million bail posted by Blake.
Regarding Caldwell's role, prosecutors attached a catalog page found in his home advertising a book entitled: "Killing Zone: A Professional's Guide to Preparing or Preventing Ambushes."
"Three days before the murder, defendant Caldwell told his girlfriend that he had to leave town and that she should not ask why," the motion said.
Police have said that Caldwell was in Northern California when the killing occurred.
They suggested that rather than continue to seek a bail hearing, Blake should agree to a speedy preliminary hearing.