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CNN Live Today

Robert Blake Expected to Request Bail

Aired June 18, 2002 - 12:37   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Actor Robert Blake is expected to ask a judge for bail today. Blake was jailed two months ago on charges of killing his wife.

From Los Angeles, CNN's Frank Buckley brings us the latest on this Hollywood murder mystery -- Frank.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra

Robert Blake will be back in court, in fact, two months to the day after his arrest on April 18 -- his attorney, Harland Braun, to argue for bail, saying that Robert Blake deserves bail, in part because the special circumstance of lying in wait is unconstitutionally vague. That special circumstance makes this a death-penalty case, a capital case.

If he can get that struck, then it will no longer be a capital case. And then he will be eligible for parole at the -- or for bail at the schedule of $1 million. Braun says that Blake needs bail to receive a fair trial.

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HARLAND BRAUN, ATTORNEY FOR ROBERT BLAKE: Based on the fact that Robert is not a flight risk and not a danger to society. And he should be able to post the regular bail for first-degree murder in California and not be held in a situation where it's hard to defend himself.

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BUCKLEY: Prosecutors say, in a response to Blake's motion, filed yesterday, that Blake did lie in wait. They say he discussed, as they put it -- quote -- "whacking" Bonny Lee Bakley more than a year before the murder, that he suggested a number of -- quote -- "ambush scenarios" with a stuntman whom he allegedly solicited for murder, and that Blake ultimately pulled the trigger himself after watching and waiting for an opportune moment.

Also today, Kyra, we are expecting a discussion of the preliminary hearing. Judge Lloyd Nash could today set the date for the preliminary hearing -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Frank Buckley, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com