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American Morning

Interview with Cynthia Alksne, Elizabeth Devine

Aired June 13, 2002 - 08:11   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in Los Angeles have released some dramatic documents in the case against actor Robert Blake. Among the documents, affidavits claiming Blake approached five different people asking them to kill his wife.

And if you were with us yesterday, you heard there has been a surprising revelation in the case. Lead detective Robert Ito allowed a crime writer to sit in on his interviews with possible witnesses, and seemed to introduce him as a cop.

This is from the transcript of one of those interviews -- quote -- "I'm Detective Ito. These are my partners here."

Well, he later admitted the man was not his partner, saying, "OK, he is actually a writer, and he is on our case with us," about which the interviewee asked, "it's rather odd, isn't it?"

Well, joining me now from Washington, former federal prosecutor Cynthia Alksne, and from Los Angeles, former criminalist turned television writer Elizabeth Devine -- good to see both of you. Welcome.

ELIZABETH DEVINE, FORMER CRIMINALIST: Good morning.

CYNTHIA ALKSNE, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Good morning.

ZAHN: So Elizabeth, how common is it for a lead investigator to bring to an interview a writer who is working on a story on the department, and pass him off as a cop?

DEVINE: I've never heard of such a thing, ever. And writers are always sort of hanging around law enforcement. They like the stories, they like the truth angle, but I've never heard of anyone getting that kind of access, especially during an ongoing investigation. It's very surprising.

ZAHN: How troubling is it to you, Elizabeth?

DEVINE: Well, I find that it certainly questions the credibility of this particular detective, whether or not he's doing anything wrong, it -- the objectivity issue is there, it makes him look very biased, and that is not the way you want to come into an investigation, or proceed with one. It's just not a good thing at all. ZAHN: And Cynthia, it comes as no surprise that Mr. Blake's attorney is trying to get a lot of mileage out of this, and he goes as far to say as the simple presence of the writer actually leading to the arrest of his client. He says that because it makes a better ending to the book. Does anybody buy that?

ALKSNE: No, nobody buys that. No. I mean, it is troubling, and it's a mistake to have it happen, but doesn't mean that the case will be dismissed, it doesn't mean that it's impossible to get a conviction, and depending on who these witnesses are -- let's just say that it's a minor witness who is not important at all, who is involved in this. That -- it will be different in the case than if -- for instance, he sat in on Mr. Blake's interview.

So, on some level, it makes a difference. But it does set up a trial issue, which LAPD just doesn't need to do right now. It makes the detective look like somebody who has lied to a witness, which is obviously a huge problem in the case, especially the central detective. And it also does make the detective look biased, like he could be in a position to try to make himself look better, and nobody should do that in a trial.

ZAHN: Could the case get thrown out because of this, Cynthia?

ALKSNE: No, absolutely not. No chance.

ZAHN: Tell me why.

ALKSNE: Because it doesn't -- it doesn't change the simple fact that there is probably cause to believe that Mr. Blake killed his wife.

I mean, after all, five people now have come forward and said he tried to get them to kill her. He's also the man with this pathetic alibi statement about he was in getting a glass of water and he forgot his gun, but then he forgot to ask for his gun -- you know, his whole business about that.

He's also the man with the motive. So the case will not be dismissed on that. Cases -- there's always a fear that a case could be dismissed if there is outrageous conduct by somebody, but it would have to be more like beating a witness or something much more egregious than being stupid enough to allow a reporter along with you.

ZAHN: Elizabeth, let's talk for a moment about the document drop that Cynthia was just referring to, and that is an affidavit basically showing that Blake approached five different people asking for help in trying to kill his wife.

If you had been an investigator at that point, and one of these people had come in, you'd assess that. But then, you know, two weeks later, within two weeks, five people had come in. How serious of an indictment is that?

DEVINE: Well, you know, as soon as one person speaks up, a lot of others also join in, and it certainly solidifies that idea, that this is what the individual is doing. And it's -- it all seems to further that whole idea that Mr. Blake was, in fact, soliciting that kind of action.

ZAHN: How much trouble do you think he's in, Elizabeth?

DEVINE: He's in a great deal of trouble, and all these little side issues such as this writer being along, is really just going to be another little problem that they run into in court, but the substantial information that they have about this case is very solid.

ZAHN: Let's -- in closing, Cynthia, talk about how just how solid you think the prosecution's case is. We learned from the sealed affidavits that Robert Blake was the only suspect, and that an informant actually told officers within two weeks of the killing of Bonny Lee Bakley that Blake had offered him $100,000 to bump her off.

ALKSNE: And in addition to the five attempts, he also was evidently talking to people before her murder about how he wanted to force her to have an abortion or he was going to "whack her later," speaking in his "Baretta" language that evidently he was so proud of. So, there is a lot of information in this case. Even though Detective Ito will have to undergo some uncomfortable cross examination, ultimately, the case will go forward.

ZAHN: Elizabeth, got 10 seconds left. Are you surprised that there was no physical evidence tying Robert Blake to the crime scene?

DEVINE: Sometimes criminals just get lucky, and we do everything we can to find the physical evidence, but sometimes it takes witness information and more scenario information as opposed to the hard evidence. We always want to have physical evidence, obviously, but I'm sure they have some.

ZAHN: And, of course, Mr. Blake's attorney says that will be the core of his case, that no such evidence exists, he says, which will ultimately prove that his client is innocent. Obviously, Cynthia Alksne with a very different view of all that. And we appreciate both of your joining us this morning. Good to see you again, Cynthia, and Elizabeth, thanks for getting up so early for us on AMERICAN MORNING. Take care.

DEVINE: Thank you.

ALKSNE: Thank you.

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