Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Robert Blake Taking Request For Bail to California Supreme Court
Aired August 07, 2002 - 05:32 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: For the past four months, actor Robert Blake has been in jail, accused of murdering his wife. Now he's taking his request for bail to the California Supreme Court.
In the meantime, CNN's Charles Feldman has exclusive video from the political search at Blake's home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On May 4, 2001, Bonny Lee Bakley, wife of actor Robert Blake, was shot and killed. Police for months denied reports that they had zeroed in on Bakley's husband, Robert Blake, as their key suspect in her murder. But, in fact, less than 24 hours after Bakley's slaying, the lead LAPD detective in charge of the investigation stepped in front of a police video camera and began to record the first complete search of Robert Blake's Los Angeles home.
RON NITO (ph): I'm detective Ron Nito from the robbery-homicide division. In my possession is a search warrant and affidavit and we'll be serving this warrant today, along with my search team.
FELDMAN: The team included other detectives, a representative from the L.A. County D.A.'s office, and a book author whose inclusion in the search team has sparked a controversy with Blake's defense attorney. Blake called his Studio City home Matahari Ranch. Detectives quickly realized one of the more unusual aspects of the Blake-Bakley marriage -- they did not share the same house.
NITO: This area here that I'm pointing to is an actual guest house occupied by Mrs. Bakley.
FELDMAN: Blake and daughter Rosie lived in the main house.
NITO: This is the area where Mrs. Bakley is believed to live in.
FELDMAN: Bonny Lee Bakley lived in the smaller structures. Detectives clearly focused much of their attention on the house in which the former "Baretta" star lived.
NITO: OK, this is the front door entry. It's unlocked. We'll be making our entry. FELDMAN: Although Robert Blake spent almost his entire life in show business, starting as a child actor, developing into a powerful motion picture star in the movie "In Cold Blood"...
ROBERT BLAKE: Do you have any aspirin?
FELDMAN: ... and reaching his career's zenith playing the fictional TV cop Baretta, his home was mostly empty of reminders of his celluloid past. The baby's room here, an exercise room there, clutter just about everywhere. Detectives passed by the actor's gun collection on the wall, probably unaware that Blake's defense attorney would argue a year later that gunpowder residue found on Blake was meaningless because of his regular handling of guns.
As this videotaped search continues, so far no unusual discoveries. That is, until police began finding the money, envelopes stuffed with crisp $100 bills, kept in various locations around Blake's house.
NITO: Eight, nine, ten, one.
FELDMAN: In all, detectives that day found some $12,000 in cash in Blake's home. Blake is charged with killing his wife after alleged efforts to pay hit men to do the job for him failed. But Blake's attorney says the actor is a child of the Great Depression and likes to keep large sums of cash readily available at home.
By nightfall, Robert Blake's defense attorney, Harlan Braun, arrives at the home to claim the money on Blake's behalf.
HARLAN BRAUN: OK, you know what, I'll take those.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
BRAUN: Any time you show a lawyer some money he'll take it.
FELDMAN: The lawyer even finds time for a fast joke with the prosecutor who will be his courtroom opponent at Blake's forthcoming trial.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't see that.
FELDMAN: The LAPD says its investigation of the Bonny Bakley murder was one of the most extensive and costly in the department's history. That investigation led this spring to Robert Blake's arrest. These police photos, obtained exclusively by CNN, showing the actor in his own kitchen in another of his homes being given glasses of water while his hands were cuffed behind him at the moment of his arrest.
(on camera): Blake and his co-defendant, former bodyguard Earl Caldwell, have pleaded not guilty. Blake put up a million dollars in cash to bail Caldwell out. But Blake's repeated attempts to be granted bail have thus far proven fruitless.
Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
