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DA Requests that Blake Be Held Without Bail

Aired April 19, 2002 - 13:01   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour in Los Angeles, where another celebrity murder trial is looming, and this time the death penalty is a possibility. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is covering the arrest and detention of actor Robert Blake, and she joins us now with the latest -- hi there, Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office has just told us that they will request that Robert Blake be held without bail. Right now, he is in the hospital ward of the men's central jail here. He is being held there not because he's sick, but because a spokesperson told us it is very common for high profile people like actor Robert Blake to be held in the hospital ward for their own safety and security.

The Los Angeles police say it was, in fact, Robert Blake who killed his wife last May. The motive, they say, that Blake was trapped in a marriage that he did not want. Yesterday evening, the 68-year-old actor was taken into custody. Police say when they arrived at his million-dollar estate in the gated community of Hidden Hills, where he lives with his two daughters, Blake opened the door and surrendered. They say he was passive and cooperative. Blake was led away in handcuffs and taken to Parker Center, where he was processed.

The massive investigation took detectives to 20 different states. They talked with more than 150 witnesses. They say they have significant evidence against the actor to charge him with murder of his wife, 44-year-old Bonny Lee Bakley. Her family has maintained all along that Blake was her killer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARY GOLDSTEIN, ATTORNEY FOR BAKLEY FAMILY: I think they are hitting the nail on the head when they speak about motive. Robert Blake didn't want Bonny in his life. He didn't want to pay child support to her, he didn't want to be married to her. He wanted her out of the picture, but he wanted the child, and he succeeded in doing that. I doubt that he is going to get away with murder, though.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Robert Blake's attorney, Harland Braun, said yesterday that it was someone out of Bakley's past, not her husband, who killed her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLAND BRAUN, BLAKE'S ATTORNEY: I believe that the real killer is out there. I haven't analyzed their case, but from everything Robert has told me -- and remember, I have watched him for a year, looking for any hint as to what maybe he did it or didn't do it, and he has always impressed me as maintaining his innocence, but being very calm about it. He understands that there has never been a question of motive in this case. What this lady did to his life was horrific. So, he has understood that. He was there, and he has a motive, but he maintains that he didn't do it, I've seen anything to the contrary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: There was a second arrest yesterday. Earle Caldwell, who is Robert Blake's bodyguard and one time handyman, was taken into custody just after leaving Blake's home. Caldwell is accused of conspiracy to commit murder. Police would not elaborate, but say that Caldwell was not in town the night of the murder. Now, Blake is expected to be arraigned in Van Nuys on Monday. He will be charged with one count of murder with special circumstance of lying in wait, and that could make him eligible for the death penalty. It will be up to prosecutors to decide whether or not to seek a death penalty. Again, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is asking that Blake be held without bail -- Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Thelma. What about reaction from the community where Blake was arrested? Has anyone had an opportunity to talk to the residents in that community, to find out just what they're thinking and feeling at this point?

GUTIERREZ: That's a very interesting question. Yesterday, we were out there. There were six helicopters flying above the Hidden Hills gated community, a very quiet community in a quiet suburb outside of Los Angeles. There were many media vehicles blocking the way there. Police cars actually blocking the entrance into the area, you would think that the residents would have been fed up with all of that from presence. Instead, they came out. They knew that the media could not go in, and they came out and they offered each of the media outlets an opportunity to go in and get shots of Robert Blake's home, and to take shots of the community, which was very strange. They seemed to be not too surprised that all of that was going on -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: But not speaking specifically about Blake himself or his family members, or their feelings about how this has come to be?

GUTIERREZ: No, they say that they -- that this is man who kept to himself. He lived there with his daughter, an adult daughter who helped him care for his 2-year-old child with Bonny Lee Bakley, a little girl named Rose, and they said that he kept to himself, not a big surprise that this was going on. We were very surprised, however, at the idea that they would come in and offer to take cameras into the area to actually shoot the home and shoot their neighborhood. WHITFIELD: Thelma Gutierrez from Los Angeles. Thanks very much.

For Blake, this arrest caps a long and very turbulent career. For police, it caps an exhaustive investigation. Joining us now with some insights on Blake is Lorenzo Benet, an LA correspondent for "People" magazine. Thanks very much for joining us.

LORENZO BENET, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Thanks. Nice to be here.

WHITFIELD: Well, was it your feeling that most suspected that this arrest just might be imminent, given that over the past year, it seemed as though the direction that the prosecutors were taking was that they were gathering a little bit more on Blake?

BENET: Well, actually, we all thought that they had a lot of evidence, possibly, against him early on. And yet, what happened over the last several months from our sources, was that they were looking into items that Harland Braun had presented them. Pieces of evidence, documents. Last night, the police revealed they went to 20 different states, and interviewed 150 different suspects, and numerous clues to rule out all suspects. So, they have been busy on a lot of fronts, not just Robert Blake, although they did admit last night that he was the prime suspect all along.

WHITFIELD: Well, Lorenzo, what can you tell us who is Robert Blake. Most of us know him as once a Little Rascal, and then, of course, most famously as Baretta. But even Blake himself describes his career and his personal life as being rather tumultuous.

BENET: Yes. He actually grew up in New Jersey, and his father was also an aspiring actor. So, his father used to take Robert and his siblings out, and they would sing and dance in recreation halls and on the street.

Eventually they make the move to Los Angeles, and Robert took the route of many young children -- he became a Hollywood extra. He had stage parents, they took him around. He didn't have a lot of success at first until one day when he showed up on the "Little Rascals" set. He went as an extra, and one of the other actors blubbed his lines. So there is Robert, you know, standing there, and he goes, Hey, I can do that.

And they immediately cast him, and he stayed with "Rascals" for the next several years and supported his family in the process. This is, as you mentioned earlier, started the process of beginning a lot of resentment in him. It built up over time. Over the years, he has claimed he was abused by his family and exploited, and this comes out over and over again as you review interviews by Blake and look at his very sad childhood.

WHITFIELD: And more specifically, Blake himself has said that his father treated him like a dog. Literally, he said -- Blake said, that his dad would make him eat food on the ground, and that his mother really didn't behave any better.

BENET: Yes. He has also said that his father would come home late at night drunk, and beat the living daylights out of him. There has even been allegations of sexual abuse, but no specifics were ever given. So he had a horrible childhood. He cut off relations with his siblings way back in the 50's, and he has pretty much been a loner most of his life, although he did have a long marriage and did have two children later on.

WHITFIELD: But how much pride do you suppose he had in his career, given the longevity that he had, just by -- more specifically, being kind of the crime-fighting role that he always seemed to play, whether it was in "Baretta," or even once as a crime-fighting priest. He took a lot of pride in his work, and then there came a time where he felt like everything has kind of slipped through his grasp, and that his career was over.

BENET: Well, his story is very typical in this town. He had a big breakout movie in the mid-1960's, "In Cold Blood," the Truman Capote classic. He got great notices, great reviews. There was a time he was compared to Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson, the young actors of the time who were coming of age. But he made the mistake that a lot of actors make in town. He just started doing bad movies, and turning down good movies like the "Godfather." And over time, his career flatlined.

But then "Baretta" came along, it resurrected his career. He became a TV star, but he didn't get along with people, and he had a lot of problems on the set. He -- the show was actually doing well when it ended after three seasons because he just could not get along with producers. And after that, he did more TV -- some more movies, but his last motion picture, I believe, was several years ago, a David Lynch movie. So, he hasn't really done a lot in the last several years, and his career, given his age, and the fact that his prime was a few decades ago, it had passed. His time had passed.

WHITFIELD: And Lorenzo, I always wonder, what ever happens to the star, whether it be the actor or, you know, a musician who hits such an incredible high, you know, the apex of their career, and then suddenly they are no longer on that A-list, so to speak. They are not getting the roles, how are they able to kind of keep living? They're not able to maintain the same kind of lifestyle they were once accustomed to, and they kind of disappear, but they still are living somewhere in that Hollywood scene, you know, how difficult that must be, you know, for someone who has been at the top of their career, and then suddenly they're not really on that wanted list anymore.

BENET: Yes. It's a problem in this town, and there's really no place for these people to go. Some people just immerse themselves in their family, and they look for other, you know, sensible outlets, you know, just like normal folks. Others -- drugs and alcohol come into play, and they get lonely and they get depressed, and you read about them in a negative way, whether it's a bad car accident, or falling off the wagon, or going into rehab. So, a lot of different routes people can take.

My -- I have always commented to friends, because I have worked for "People" for a long time, and I said, You know, once your time is up, I always said you should get out of this town. You should just go live your life, and maybe fulfill some childhood dreams, go to school, go some place where it is normal. And believe it or ,not a lot of people who are even stars do that. They just leave LA, they take up roots on the East Coast, Midwest, Seattle, you see it over and over, although they still maintain a lot of contact here, and keep working and coming back here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much. Lorenzo Benet, LA correspondent for "People" magazine. Thanks so much for joining us.

BENET: Thank you.

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