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CNN Live Today

Robert Blake Asking Judge For Bail Today

Aired May 01, 2002 - 11:15   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Los Angeles and to Robert Blake in court. The actor is going to be asking a judge for bail today. CNN plans extensive coverage throughout the afternoon on all of that.

But for now, our Charles Feldman with a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robert Blake's lawyer will try every argument under the sun, and then some, to get bail for his client today. But it is thought highly unlikely that the judge will agree to because of the nature of the charges against the former "Baretta" star.

Blake's co-defendant Earle Caldwell did get bail after Blake personally came up with $1 million in cash. Blake has also paid for Caldwell's legal defense, arguing he owes it to Caldwell, who was his attorney.

Harland Braun, Blake's attorney, plans to ask the court for at least four months before a preliminary hearing, because he says he needs at least that much time to go over the discovery material turned over by prosecutors.

In the meantime, Braun is raising the possibility that someone other than Blake may have tried to kill Bonny Lee Bakley before her shooting death last year. He says a letter, apparently in Bakley's handwriting, was among the evidence given him by the direct attorney's office.

In it, he says, Bakley writes, "I've almost been killed half a dozen times."

(on camera): With investigator staying mum on the evidence in the case, they say they want to try in the courtroom and not in the media, the field is wide open for Blake's defense attorneys to put their spin out, a spin they no doubt hope will reach the ears of potential jurors.

Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, we now that spin has already reached the ears of our new legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, and he is actually here in Atlanta, for once, to help us talk some more about this bail hearing for Blake.

Good to see you. Nice to have you with us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's great to be here at CNN Center.

HARRIS: Good, well, let's talk about this right off the bat. What should we expect? And is there any chance at all that Blake is actually going to get bail here?

TOOBIN: Well, on paper, he really doesn't look like a bad bail risk. There are two issues you usually look at when it comes to bail. One is, is he a risk of flight? And the second is, is he a danger to the community? Now in terms of risk of flight, Harland Braun said to me yesterday, you know, the only risk this guy presents is that the news helicopters will crash into each other following him around. It does not seem like he's likely to escape.

In terms of danger to the community. this is a crime very specifically targeted to his wife. He's not someone who appears to be a big danger. But in spite of that, given the fact that most people in the California judicial system who are charged with murder don't get bail, I think the L.A. district attorney's office and the judge will be very careful, very worried about being seen as to want bend over backward in favor of celebrity.

HARRIS: That celebrity may play against him in this particularly case.

TOOBIN: Probably. You know, one of the interesting things about these celebrity cases, it often works against them as much as it works for them.

HARRIS: All right, and one way that that could also come to the fore here is the way I guess the speed with which we may see this trial proceed.

TOOBIN: Right, this was a year between the murder and the arrest. This was an enormous investigation. Thousands of pages of discoveries have already been produced, and Harland Braun, the lawyer said, you had a year to look at this material. I've had three days, or a week; I need a lot more time. He said four or five months until the preliminary hearing. That's not the trial. That's the preliminary hearing. So he probably won't get that much time. But I think we're going to see the wheels of justice grind rather slowly.

HARRIS: That's interesting. And if that does happen, this means the whole things drags out. I hate to put a mundane look at this. It will start adding up costwise here, both for the court, as well for Blake. How do you see that playing out?

TOOBIN: I think that's just going to be tough luck for all concerned, because the L.A. district attorney has had many high- profile failures, most notably of course O.J. Simpson. HARRIS: Covered right here on CNN as a matter of fact.

TOOBIN: They have done their absolutely best to dot their i's, cross their t's. They've spent a lot of money already. They are going to spend more, and I think they're willing to pay the price to get the conviction that they want.

HARRIS: All right, since you did talk with him, you did spend some time with Harland Braun, give us some insight as what we see here. We know what we see and what we hear with him outside the courtroom to be very bombastic. He has actually been quite provocative at time, and on purpose, by design. Are we to expect the same sort of thing in the courtroom?

TOOBIN: He's a real pro. He's not going to be unprofessional. But the blame-the-victim defense, that Bonnie Bakley had so many enemies, that someone else killed her. That's going to be the core of the defense. The interesting legal issue as we look ahead is, you know, if he can say that to the press, in court, he's going to have to be more specific. He's not going to just say, well, she had all these enemies, someone did her in. He's going to have to point to a specific person with -- who had a motive and opportunity. That's a lot harder, and he hasn't done it yet.

HARRIS: We haven't talked about the prosecution side of this. But now as we talk about all of this, and all the memories come back to the trials we've covered, what about the judge that gets assigned to this case and the prosecution team?

TOOBIN: They're going to face a very difficult decision right up front, which is cameras in the courtroom, because that really changes things a lot. You know, we all remember how high profile the Simpson case was. I don't think this one has any chance of being that much attention. But if there's cameras in it, it could be a lot of scrutiny. And interestingly, it's the judges, even more than the lawyers on either side, who really fear the cameras, because it's their conduct that comes under scrutiny. No judge wants to get the kind of criticism that Lance Ito got, and so they're the ones that prove the most reluctant for cameras.

HARRIS: I don't Judge Ito has been seen in front of the camera since when?

TOOBIN: He has wisely stayed away.

HARRIS: Exactly. Well, don't you stay away.

TOOBIN: I'll be here.

HARRIS: And, Jeffrey Toobin, we sure appreciate you stopping by, spending some time with us here for a couple of days.

We'll make sure we make good use of you while you're here.

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