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Blake's Testy Testimony
There was no pretense of civility as Robert Blake took the stand to defend himself in a wrongful death civil case.
Blake was acquitted earlier this year for the murder of wife Bonny Lee Bakley. He did not testify in the criminal case, but was compelled to answer questions posed by the lawyer representing Bakley's four children. Blake and Earle S. Caldwell, his bodyguard and alleged coconspirator, are the targets of the trial. Blake had turned down a pretrial settlement of $250,000.
Until now we've only heard Blake speak about his wife's death in a videotaped interview given to ABC News' Barbara Walters and in an audiotaped 911 call. So Thursday represented the former Baretta star's first live, sworn and inside-the-box statements about the circumstances surrounding the death of 44-year-old Bakley on May 4, 2001. She was found shot in the head in a car outside a Studio City restaurant, where the estranged couple had just dined.
Blake bridled under scrutiny about his inconsistent statements in the case and was repeatedly challenged by plaintiffs' attorney Eric Dubin.
The Emmy-winning actor admitted he'd given "different versions" of the story of that night and the events leading up to it to police, television interviewers and lawyers. Blake offered many excuses for why that happened: "I'm a human being. I'm not a machine. I'm 72. I'm dyslexic."
He also said he felt he was "in my own Rashomon," a reference to the classic 1950 Japanese movie that depicts a rape and murder numerous ways, depending on which witness is telling the story.
To win the civil case, Dubin must persuade the jury that, despite the not-guilty verdict in the criminal case against Blake and the dismissal of a criminal charge against handyman Caldwell of conspiring to help the actor get rid of his wife, they more than likely caused Bakley's death.
Blake is represented by attorney Peter Q. Ezzell, who has said he will show Bakley to be a scam artist and con woman who sold nude photos of herself to men for money and lived a lurid lifestyle of "pornography, prostitution and fraud." It was a strategy employed to great effect in the criminal case.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Blake stated that if the well-being of Rosie, the daughter he had with Bakley, depended on putting Bakley in jail for six months "so be it." He also acknowledged hiring a private detective in an attempt to get Bakley to leave California so he could secure sole custody of Rosie.
Dubin picked away at Blake, pointing out contradictions in his statements, some of which had not been revealed in the four-month criminal trial.
Blake shot back with remarks like, "You have an elaborate imagination, sir" and "Counselor, get yourself together."
After Dubin asked Blake what he would say if he was told that Caldwell had "a hobby or interest in killing," Blake exclaimed, "I would tell them to their face they were rotten, foul liars."
After an exchange in which Dubin asked Blake if he was "having fun" and Blake replied, "I beg your pardon, sir," Los Angeles Country Superior Court Judge David Schachter ordered "stop!"
But Blake, clearly now attuned to courtroom procedure, said he wanted Dubin "admonished."
As Blake may be in the witness box for several more days, expect more acrimony. He's due back first thing Monday.
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