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American Morning
Attorney Floats New Theory For Blake's Arrest
Aired August 13, 2002 - 07:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: From the beginning, Robert Blake's defense attorney has said there was no direct evidence linking the actor to the murder last year of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Now, his lawyer is floating a new theory.
He says the LAPD went after Robert Blake, because arresting a -- quote -- "Hollywood star would be a career booster." That attorney, Harlan Braun, has provided CNN with taped evidence he says proves his point.
And to talk about that strategy and its possible impact, our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Bill.
HEMMER: How much of this is Harlan Braun just trying to cast a wide net of suspicion?
TOOBIN: Well, you know, he is actually following a fairly orderly process in a defense attorney kind of way. The first thing he did was trash the victim, talked about how Bonny Bakley had all of these problems in her past, how she was kind of a celebrity stalker, looking to become famous.
Now, she's doing -- he's doing virtually the same thing with the cops, saying the cops were trying to become famous. He has told me that this is sort of the ultimate Hollywood story. Everybody wants to be famous. Here you have the cops doing the same thing. That the claim...
HEMMER: I want to know if you think it's effective in a moment here.
TOOBIN: OK.
HEMMER: But first, listen to one clip here. This one is Detective Ito, no relation to Lance Ito.
TOOBIN: Right.
HEMMER: The similarities with the Simpson case are coming out already.
TOOBIN: Right. HEMMER: Let's set up for our viewers, on the tape, there is a suggestion that the detective is looking for made-up publicity dating back to the Simpson days -- listen here.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DET. RON ITO, LAPD: I worked a year on that case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a fact?
ITO: Yeah, yeah. And I worked a year with Vannattar & Lange.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow!
ITO: There was only two you saw always on TV was Lange and Vannattar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HEMMER: It's amazing how we still know those names, Lange and Vannattar.
TOOBIN: We know those names, don't we?
HEMMER: Can the attorney, Braun, make a point that he is looking for PR, the detective?
TOOBIN: He can try. There is other evidence that Harlan Braun has brought forward that actually on the day that the cops discovered Bonny Bakley's body, they were accompanied by a writer, who was doing a book about them. So I mean, they do have an interest in publicity. I mean, there is no question about that.
The question is, also: So what? I mean, the fact that he's talking about Vannattar and Lange, I mean, what difference does that ultimately make? I mean, the jury may say, well, that's sort of amusing. It doesn't seem to me, anyway, to have a direct relevance on who killed Bonny Bakley.
HEMMER: Listen to this clip, then. This one has to do with overtime and making money...
TOOBIN: Right.
HEMMER: ... and essentially extending the arrest date, so that a police officer in L.A. can make more cash -- listen here.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When are you going to arrest him?
ITO: Not before we make enough overtime money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We solve no crime before its time. ITO: What's the saying, September dollars for December dollars, or something like that?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HEMMER: As we were listening, you're chuckling. What's so funny?
TOOBIN: September dollars for December dollars. I've never heard that expression before even in my prosecutor days.
HEMMER: What does that right there have to do with guilt or innocence in this case?
TOOBIN: I think not a great deal. But again, it all relates to the larger issue of putting the police on trial. Again, you know, the Simpson case, there's a rich history of that in Los Angeles, saying that the L.A. police were more interested in filling their pockets and becoming famous than finding the right person.
Again, a similar theme here, rush to judgment. You know, did they focus on Blake because he was a celebrity, as opposed to looking at other possible suspects? A little hard to make the rush-to- judgment argument when it took a year to arrest him, but still, the same agenda.
HEMMER: Quickly in the 30 seconds we have left, there will be an effort, we are told or led to believe, that the attorneys for Robert Blake will make it seem that Bonny Lee Bakley had a lot of enemies out there. Are they making that case?
TOOBIN: They're really not making that up. I mean, it is true that she led a life where she did make enemies. She had this sort of seedy business, where she got lonely men to send her money. The real issue, though, is they -- have yet, the defense, has yet to point to any specific person with any motive to kill Bonny Bakley, except for the man charged with the crime, Robert Blake.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jeffrey. O.J. Simpson all over again.
TOOBIN: O is back.
HEMMER: The themes are running. Thank you, pal.
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