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American Morning
Blake Murder Hearing in Sixth Day
Aired March 05, 2003 - 07:44 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: Was Robert Blake counting on his acting skills to try and get away with murder? The hearing that will decide whether or not the actor will stand trial in the killing of his wife is now in its sixth day today.
Yesterday, a retired stuntman, who claims Blake recruited him to murder his wife, said Blake wanted to be there when it happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD HAMBLETON, FORMER STUNTMAN: And I said, 'Well, you know, the cops are going to be right there on the spot asking you questions.' And his response to that is, "Don't worry about that, I'm an actor."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That's Ron Hambleton on the stand yesterday.
Michael Bryant is covering the hearing for the TV show, "Extra." He joins us now live again from L.A., where it's really early.
Thanks for coming back, Michael -- good morning to you.
MICHAEL BRYANT, "EXTRA" LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. How are you doing?
HEMMER: I'm doing fine. What was the suggestion in that saying, "I'm an actor," that he was going to cover up, act his way out? What was it?
BRYANT: Well, I mean, I think that's pretty obvious, that if you believe Duffy (ph), who had a couple of parting shots before he left the stand, one being, hey, Blake's an actor and he'll get through this one way the other. Yes, I think that's the obvious understanding that, you know, no matter what the cops do to Blake, he's an actor, he can pull it off. And I think a lot of people wonder how much of his life is acting versus real anyway.
HEMMER: And then, why was he telling this guy, Hambleton, that he wanted to be there and be present when it happened?
BRYANT: Well, again, we have to assume that we -- that Mr. Hambleton is telling the truth, and I think if you believe that, then you believe that Blake, if he's so upset he's going to kill his ex- wife or have her killed, then he wants to be there, he wants to be part of it. He's the kind of guy that lives in the street and is kind of a rough and tough guy, and that would be part of his persona, if you believed Hambleton. Some people think that, you know, he's gone a little far with this part of the story.
HEMMER: We'll listen to what else he said. I will put it on the screen for our viewers to read along with us. Ron Hambleton says yesterday, "In general, it was either Blake was going to be in an automobile with Miss Bakley, or he was going to be walking from his residence to the restaurant with Miss Bakley, and somewhere en route or wherever he parked the vehicle, Blake felt that that would be an ideal place to take care of the situation."
You referred to it, Michael. Any reason at this point for him to make this up?
BRYANT: No, and we talked about that yesterday; you're right. What's the motive to do this? This doesn't seem to me to be a guy that was anxious for the spotlight. When we talked to him as he left the court, he regretted really getting involved with Blake in any way. This guy would rather be sitting in his home out in Victorville, you know, doing what he does out in Victorville. He doesn't want to be dragged into the spotlight, it appears to me.
So, that makes you wonder why would he do this. He hasn't made any money off the deal yet. Yet.
HEMMER: What's Robert Blake doing in all of this? Did you watch his reaction? What did he do yesterday?
BRYANT: Oh, yes, you don't see it quite often on TV, because of the placement of the cameras. But he's much more animated, and he looks like, I can't believe this guy. And he questions, you can see in his facial expressions, the things that are being said and what Hambleton is accusing him of doing.
Again, Blake's an actor, and it's hard sometimes to tell when he's putting on the show and when he's honestly reacting.
HEMMER: More to come today, huh?
BRYANT: Oh, yes.
HEMMER: Any forecasts? What do you know?
BRYANT: Well, today is probably going to be the last day of testimony this week, which is going to push this whole process into next week. We'll hear more from Tyndall today, who talks a lot about the Miles Corwin factor. This is the author that trailed the police through the entire investigation, which I think is one of the biggest bonehead moves for the LAPD to allow him to do that, but he did it nonetheless. We're going to hear more about that today with Detective Tyndall.
HEMMER: Thank you, Michael. We'll talk again -- Michael Bryant with "Extra" 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.
Aired March 5, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Was Robert Blake counting on his acting skills to try and get away with murder? The hearing that will decide whether or not the actor will stand trial in the killing of his wife is now in its sixth day today.
Yesterday, a retired stuntman, who claims Blake recruited him to murder his wife, said Blake wanted to be there when it happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD HAMBLETON, FORMER STUNTMAN: And I said, 'Well, you know, the cops are going to be right there on the spot asking you questions.' And his response to that is, "Don't worry about that, I'm an actor."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That's Ron Hambleton on the stand yesterday.
Michael Bryant is covering the hearing for the TV show, "Extra." He joins us now live again from L.A., where it's really early.
Thanks for coming back, Michael -- good morning to you.
MICHAEL BRYANT, "EXTRA" LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. How are you doing?
HEMMER: I'm doing fine. What was the suggestion in that saying, "I'm an actor," that he was going to cover up, act his way out? What was it?
BRYANT: Well, I mean, I think that's pretty obvious, that if you believe Duffy (ph), who had a couple of parting shots before he left the stand, one being, hey, Blake's an actor and he'll get through this one way the other. Yes, I think that's the obvious understanding that, you know, no matter what the cops do to Blake, he's an actor, he can pull it off. And I think a lot of people wonder how much of his life is acting versus real anyway.
HEMMER: And then, why was he telling this guy, Hambleton, that he wanted to be there and be present when it happened?
BRYANT: Well, again, we have to assume that we -- that Mr. Hambleton is telling the truth, and I think if you believe that, then you believe that Blake, if he's so upset he's going to kill his ex- wife or have her killed, then he wants to be there, he wants to be part of it. He's the kind of guy that lives in the street and is kind of a rough and tough guy, and that would be part of his persona, if you believed Hambleton. Some people think that, you know, he's gone a little far with this part of the story.
HEMMER: We'll listen to what else he said. I will put it on the screen for our viewers to read along with us. Ron Hambleton says yesterday, "In general, it was either Blake was going to be in an automobile with Miss Bakley, or he was going to be walking from his residence to the restaurant with Miss Bakley, and somewhere en route or wherever he parked the vehicle, Blake felt that that would be an ideal place to take care of the situation."
You referred to it, Michael. Any reason at this point for him to make this up?
BRYANT: No, and we talked about that yesterday; you're right. What's the motive to do this? This doesn't seem to me to be a guy that was anxious for the spotlight. When we talked to him as he left the court, he regretted really getting involved with Blake in any way. This guy would rather be sitting in his home out in Victorville, you know, doing what he does out in Victorville. He doesn't want to be dragged into the spotlight, it appears to me.
So, that makes you wonder why would he do this. He hasn't made any money off the deal yet. Yet.
HEMMER: What's Robert Blake doing in all of this? Did you watch his reaction? What did he do yesterday?
BRYANT: Oh, yes, you don't see it quite often on TV, because of the placement of the cameras. But he's much more animated, and he looks like, I can't believe this guy. And he questions, you can see in his facial expressions, the things that are being said and what Hambleton is accusing him of doing.
Again, Blake's an actor, and it's hard sometimes to tell when he's putting on the show and when he's honestly reacting.
HEMMER: More to come today, huh?
BRYANT: Oh, yes.
HEMMER: Any forecasts? What do you know?
BRYANT: Well, today is probably going to be the last day of testimony this week, which is going to push this whole process into next week. We'll hear more from Tyndall today, who talks a lot about the Miles Corwin factor. This is the author that trailed the police through the entire investigation, which I think is one of the biggest bonehead moves for the LAPD to allow him to do that, but he did it nonetheless. We're going to hear more about that today with Detective Tyndall.
HEMMER: Thank you, Michael. We'll talk again -- Michael Bryant with "Extra" 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.
