Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Former Hollywood Stuntman Expected Back on Stand in Blake Hearing
Aired March 04, 2003 - 08:18 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A former Hollywood stuntman expected back on the stand today during the preliminary hearing for actor Robert Blake. The hearing will determine whether or not Blake will stand trial in the death of his wife.
Yesterday, Blake's lawyers attacked the credibility of Ronald Hamilton, a one time "Beretta" stuntman who testified that Blake tried to hire him to kill Bonny Lee Bakley. But upon cross-examination, he revealed that he initially told police a different story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You told the police that you had known Robert Blake for 30 some odd years, correct?
RONALD HAMILTON: That is correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at line 18, you were asked first of all do you have any idea about who killed his wife? Do you see that? They then asked you a question, outside of that, see that?
HAMILTON: Um-hmm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your answer was, "I wouldn't have the slightest idea," correct?
HAMILTON: That is correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The defense now challenging the witnesses.
From L.A. now, Michael Bryant is the legal correspondent for "Extra" and joins us now live.
Good to see you, Michael.
Good morning to you.
MICHAEL BRYANT, "EXTRA" LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
How are you?
HEMMER: I'm doing just fine.
Three witnesses now, three different stories, all saying that Robert Blake approached them to take care of his wife and off Bonny Lee Bakley. You heard the cross-examination. Is there anything right now you see in terms of defense attorneys tearing down the credibility of these witnesses?
BRYANT: Well, I think they're doing a good job digging, you know, some holes for these guys. But I don't think they've totally discredited all three of them, really, any of the three. You get the feeling that back in the time, the months just before the murder in May of 2001, that if you had walked by Robert Blake's home in Studio City, he would have flagged you down and said, "Hey, can you knock off my wife?"
Everybody has the same story. Everybody seems to have been solicited to commit the murder. And I think you ultimately have to ask one question, what motivation do these guys have to make up these stories? Because not one of them made any money selling their stories to the willing buyers that have been out there since the murder.
HEMMER: Jeffrey Toobin says this was the most talked about and shopped around murder in all of Hollywood.
BRYANT: I think that's true.
HEMMER: You think just because at the preliminary hearing with the prosecution going as far as it is right now, that the LAPD is just strutting its stuff...
BRYANT: Yes, there's no doubt.
HEMMER: Why do you believe that?
BRYANT: Well, because they don't need to do what they're doing to meet the burden of proof at this point. Probable cause is all they need to show to hold this thing over for trial. Now, I will say this. We're talking about solicitation, we're talking about conspiracy, we're talking about murder. We've had a lot of evidence on the conspiracy and the solicitation issues, all the guys we've just been talking about. Not as much on the murder itself. But I expect that's going to come in the next couple of days.
HEMMER: But...
BRYANT: Hopefully.
HEMMER: Is there not thinking, Michael, that perhaps the LAPD and prosecutors are saying listen, we've got a mountain of evidence over here and we're stacking it up against you and we are showing you how confident we are in this case?
BRYANT: Oh, yes. I think they've been frustrated because what was it, almost a year between the murder and the time of the arrest where they had to keep quiet, not say anything. Then another 10 months from the time of the arrest to the preliminary hearing. I've got here the witness list, 26 names on this list, Bill. And you know where we are after five days, today being the fifth day? We're on number five. HEMMER: Wow.
BRYANT: So I mean this is the first act in what could be the longest preliminary hearing play in history.
HEMMER: Keep us posted, will you?
BRYANT: You bet.
HEMMER: Michael Bryant, "Extra" correspondent, watching that trial out there in L.A.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Hearing>
Aired March 4, 2003 - 08:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A former Hollywood stuntman expected back on the stand today during the preliminary hearing for actor Robert Blake. The hearing will determine whether or not Blake will stand trial in the death of his wife.
Yesterday, Blake's lawyers attacked the credibility of Ronald Hamilton, a one time "Beretta" stuntman who testified that Blake tried to hire him to kill Bonny Lee Bakley. But upon cross-examination, he revealed that he initially told police a different story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You told the police that you had known Robert Blake for 30 some odd years, correct?
RONALD HAMILTON: That is correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at line 18, you were asked first of all do you have any idea about who killed his wife? Do you see that? They then asked you a question, outside of that, see that?
HAMILTON: Um-hmm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your answer was, "I wouldn't have the slightest idea," correct?
HAMILTON: That is correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: The defense now challenging the witnesses.
From L.A. now, Michael Bryant is the legal correspondent for "Extra" and joins us now live.
Good to see you, Michael.
Good morning to you.
MICHAEL BRYANT, "EXTRA" LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
How are you?
HEMMER: I'm doing just fine.
Three witnesses now, three different stories, all saying that Robert Blake approached them to take care of his wife and off Bonny Lee Bakley. You heard the cross-examination. Is there anything right now you see in terms of defense attorneys tearing down the credibility of these witnesses?
BRYANT: Well, I think they're doing a good job digging, you know, some holes for these guys. But I don't think they've totally discredited all three of them, really, any of the three. You get the feeling that back in the time, the months just before the murder in May of 2001, that if you had walked by Robert Blake's home in Studio City, he would have flagged you down and said, "Hey, can you knock off my wife?"
Everybody has the same story. Everybody seems to have been solicited to commit the murder. And I think you ultimately have to ask one question, what motivation do these guys have to make up these stories? Because not one of them made any money selling their stories to the willing buyers that have been out there since the murder.
HEMMER: Jeffrey Toobin says this was the most talked about and shopped around murder in all of Hollywood.
BRYANT: I think that's true.
HEMMER: You think just because at the preliminary hearing with the prosecution going as far as it is right now, that the LAPD is just strutting its stuff...
BRYANT: Yes, there's no doubt.
HEMMER: Why do you believe that?
BRYANT: Well, because they don't need to do what they're doing to meet the burden of proof at this point. Probable cause is all they need to show to hold this thing over for trial. Now, I will say this. We're talking about solicitation, we're talking about conspiracy, we're talking about murder. We've had a lot of evidence on the conspiracy and the solicitation issues, all the guys we've just been talking about. Not as much on the murder itself. But I expect that's going to come in the next couple of days.
HEMMER: But...
BRYANT: Hopefully.
HEMMER: Is there not thinking, Michael, that perhaps the LAPD and prosecutors are saying listen, we've got a mountain of evidence over here and we're stacking it up against you and we are showing you how confident we are in this case?
BRYANT: Oh, yes. I think they've been frustrated because what was it, almost a year between the murder and the time of the arrest where they had to keep quiet, not say anything. Then another 10 months from the time of the arrest to the preliminary hearing. I've got here the witness list, 26 names on this list, Bill. And you know where we are after five days, today being the fifth day? We're on number five. HEMMER: Wow.
BRYANT: So I mean this is the first act in what could be the longest preliminary hearing play in history.
HEMMER: Keep us posted, will you?
BRYANT: You bet.
HEMMER: Michael Bryant, "Extra" correspondent, watching that trial out there in L.A.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Hearing>
