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Blake Defense Rests
After 38 witnesses over six days of testimony, the Robert Blake defense team has rested its case without putting the former Baretta star on the stand.
Wednesday marked the final day of the defense presentation in the actor's murder trial, and although Blake didn't take the stand, where he would he would be exposed to furious prosecution cross-examination, he did make his case to the jury via a videotape of his February 2003 TV interview with Barbara Walters.
While Blake was kept on the sidelines, his adult daughter did take the stand. Delinah Blake Hurwitz testified about how she came to adopt her half-sister Rosie, the child of Robert Blake and Bonny Lee Bakley at the center of the murder case.
Blake Hurwitz, visibly pregnant with her own child, told jurors that she only met Bakley once and that she first met Rosie in September 2000. She says she was concerned that the little girl was "physically and emotionally" troubled.
"She appeared to be withdrawn...she didn't raise her head much, she didn't make eye contact, she didn't make any noises in the first two hours I saw her," said Blake Hurwitz, a psychology professor at Cal State Northridge who gained custody of Rosie in July 2002.
Prosecutors Shellie Samuels hammered away at Blake Hurwitz during cross-examination, suggesting her failed first marriage had to do with an inability to conceive and that Blake wanted a baby to give to his daughter. Defense lawyers objected to the tact, and Judge Darlene Schemmp ruled several of Samuels' questions out of bounds.
The defense team also called George Horan, the Catholic chaplain who visited Blake weekly in prison during his 11-month stint behind bars. Horan told the court that Blake "seemed to be very sad" and would always "start crying."
Finally, with Blake not taking the stand in his own defense, jurors were shown clips of the Barbara Walters interview in which Blake said, "It's all about Rosie. It's always been about Rosie. The greatest gift in the world, and I'm going to try to mess it up by being selfish?"
It's the second time his defense team managed to show the tape to the jury; the Blake Q&A was played back in December during opening arguments.
Prosecutors rested their case on Feb. 14 and will get a chance to rebut the defense by calling six more witnesses on Thursday.
Presumably, the rebuttal witnesses will support the prosecution's claim that Blake murdered Bakely on May 4, 2001 after he unsuccessfully tried to solicit former stuntmen to take her out because he wanted custody of their daughter.
Closing arguments are expected to begin next Tuesday or Wednesday and the case could be in the jury's hands by week's end.
Blake has maintained his innocence throughout. His defense team has tried to discredit the prosecution's key witnesses by claiming the would-be hit men are drug addicts and liars.
If convicted, Blake could face life in prison.
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