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CNN Live Today

Interview with Catherine Crier, Court TV Anchor

Aired April 19, 2002 - 10:44   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we turn our attention now back to the case of Robert Blake who has been arrested in the murder of his wife, who was murdered last May. Joining us to talk about the case is Court TV anchor Catherine Crier -- good morning.

Actually, I don't know if we can hear you -- can you try one more time?

CATHERINE CRIER, COURT TV ANCHOR: Can you hear me all right?

KAGAN: Now we can. Good.

CRIER: There we go. All right. Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Had the pleasure of meeting you in person earlier this week, and now I get to talk to you on television. Good to have you with us. Let's talk Robert Blake here. It does not get more serious than this in the criminal world, criminal justice. They're talking death penalty, and yet, to pull together a case like that, you certainly need a lot more than circumstantial evidence.

CRIER: Well, I don't know about that. A lot of people, to me, have a misconception about circumstantial evidence. It's a different kind, but it is the same quality as what we call direct evidence. If you hear it raining outside, it was dry when you went in the house, you walk out and the ground is wet, dripping water off the eaves, you can assume it rained. That is circumstantial evidence -- good evidence.

KAGAN: But Catherine, when you are talking the death penalty, you need more than just that.

CRIER: Not -- not necessarily. What are you going to have? An eyewitness? If you have all of the pieces of the puzzle, you have a good, strong case. The day this murder occurred, when we started talking about the facts and the evidence, I was expecting there to be an arrest long before now.

KAGAN: Well, I think a lot of people were. And do you become concerned when you look at the fact that it took almost a year to make -- not just this arrest, but also the arrest of Blake's bodyguard as well.

CRIER: I think this is in the wake of OJ. I think that police departments have become so cautious that they went out to 20 different states, did countless interviews, brought back something like 900 pieces of evidence in that investigation. I also think that we will probably get the same results in OJ -- as we did in OJ in terms of death penalty. I don't think they will push for that in this case. I'd be very surprised, because it is tough enough. As you say, it is circumstantial, it is a celebrity. I think they will go for the life.

KAGAN: Well, how does the celebrity factor play in this? Does it help or hurt the prosecution or the defense more?

CRIER: It is going to be interesting because Robert Blake has a reputation of being a pretty tough guy. Being difficult, hard to get along with. So, he may have a lot of people in his own Hollywood community that wouldn't come in saying what a great guy he is. Got a hot temper, had apparently talked about getting rid of her before, so I think the prosecution has some good evidence.

KAGAN: Well, when you talk about reputation, the murder victim here, Bonny Lee Bakley, she did not have a great reputation herself, and I would imagine that that would be the card that the defense will go to, trying to focus the attention on what happened to her before she met Robert Blake.

CRIER: It is the old "the best defense is a good offense," and in fact they are going -- they started this shortly after the murder, and they are going to play that card as much as they can. But when you talk about that circumstantial evidence, let's say all of her former flings were after her. How did they know that she was going to be sitting on a side lot, away from this restaurant, waiting to go home as her husband leaves her alone for about two minutes. The odds of this happening and somebody else getting to her are slim and none.

KAGAN: And what about change of venue? You mentioned the Hollywood community, but really when you're someone as famous as Robert Blake, who has been on television and the movies, really since he's been a child, where do you go for change of venue?

CRIER: I don't think you need to change the venue. We found over the years that juries can be selected in cases like this in their home community. OJ case really moved because of political reasons. They thought politically they ought to have it in Los Angeles, rather than in the Brentwood area. I don't think there will be any need to move, even though the defense may ask for that.

KAGAN: And then, finally, as we mentioned, it is not just Robert Blake, but the bodyguard who has been arrested as well. How does that play into this case, and do you try to get one to play against the other?

CRIER: Well, certainly, that is what the prosecution will try and do, because the bodyguard has a lot to lose, and in fact, if he would fess up and talk to the prosecution, he might find himself off with a pretty light sentence. But that is another one of those coincidental things that he -- supposedly they were worried about Bonny Bakley's fate at that point in time, that she was in danger. Robert leaves her alone with an open window in the car. His bodyguard, who is nowhere in sight, in fact was supposedly out of town. You line all this information up, and there's a pretty obvious conclusion, I think.

KAGAN: And finally, Catherine, if you take the celebrity factor out of this, anything remarkable about this case?

CRIER: Well, it's fascinating, anytime you are portraying a planned hit as a murder case involving several people, trying to get someone to come in and kill her and finally the husband does it himself. It is a very intricate, fascinating case if you're intrigued by murder and mystery.

KAGAN: You know the former judge -- we have to assert "allegedly" allegedly coming in to do all that.

CRIER: Yes. Absolutely.

KAGAN: OK. Catherine Crier from Court TV. Good to see you, thanks for your insights this morning.

CRIER: Thanks, Daryn.

KAGAN: Good to have you with us.

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