Robert Blake Jury Pool Cut In Half

Sixty-four prospective jurors in the Robert Blake murder case were eliminated Tuesday from consideration after indicating strong views in written questionnaires.

With Blake absent from the courtroom, his attorney and a prosecutor conferred with the judge and agreed on dismissals from a pool of 123 prospects. Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp ordered another panel of about 60 prospects to fill out forms Wednesday.

Selection will continue until the final 12 jurors and alternates are chosen. Attorneys have estimated testimony will begin Dec. 1.

Blake, 71, has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, two counts of solicitation of murder and a special circumstance of lying in wait. He is accused of killing his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, whom he married after DNA tests showed he was the father of her baby.

Blake told police he found Bakley shot in their car on May 4, 2001, after he went back into the restaurant where they had just dined to retrieve a gun he carried for protection.

Attorneys and their jury consultants spent the past week studying answers on the juror questionnaires.

Although the forms were not made public it was possible to discern from the discussion in court that most excused panelists expressed strong views on issues including abortion, religion and whether they thought Blake should testify.

Panelists' views on abortion are considered to be relevant because the prosecution intends to present evidence that at one time Blake wanted Bakley to abort the pregnancy.

Some of the prospective jurors said they had connections to Blake, including a few who said they had worked with him on the "Baretta" TV series.

By Linda Deutsch