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Actor Robert Blake Hires Attorneys Harland Braun and Barry Levin to Represent Him

Aired May 19, 2001 - 16:29   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.
JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Two weeks ago, you'd probably never heard the name Harland Braun mentioned to you. Then came the shooting death of Bonny Bakley, who was the wife of actor Robert Blake, and suddenly Harland Braun is a one-man media circus. Who is Harland Braun and what is it about his partner, a man named Barry Levin?

As CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports, they're big-time lawyers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Harland Braun, 58 years old, graduate of UCLA's School of Law.

Barry Levin, 54 years old, former Los Angeles police detective and decorated Vietnam veteran.

They are seasoned criminal defense attorneys who have represented some of the most high-profile defendants in recent memory. Levin defended Eric Menendez, convicted of killing his parents with brother Lyle. Braun defended an officer charged in the Rodney King beating. Each represented officers involved in the LAPD Rampart corruption scandal.

And now, Barry Levin and Harland Braun have been hired by actor Robert Blake.

BARRY LEVIN, ATTORNEY: Harland's brilliant. He's kind of the legal equivalent of the new Kobe Bryant.

HARLAND BRAUN, ATTORNEY: We have got a co-counsel Barry Levin, who's a highly-respected ex-LAPD detective who knows the entire command staff.

GUTIERREZ: Together, colleagues have called them formidable.

GIGI GORDON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They're scary.

GUTIERREZ: Gigi Gordon is a criminal defense attorney. She knows Braun and Levin, and she's seen them in action in the courtroom.

GORDON: Deadly. Barry could find a gnat if it was hidden somewhere at Parker Center. GUTIERREZ: Gordon says because Levin has been a cop and has defended them, he's the best person to find fault with the police investigation, should Blake ever be arrested. As for Braun, he's been called a "spin master" who has admittedly used the media to suggest to the public and to the LAPD that many people would have had a motive to kill Bonny Bakley.

BRAUN: She's a schemer and a fraud.

GUTIERREZ: Braun has been sharply criticized for picking apart Bakley's character.

CHIEF BERNARD PARKS, LOS ANGELES POLICE: The person that's the victim seems to be victimized a second time by the overt effort to challenge her character.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What they're doing now is building a dream team. This is O.J. again.

GUTIERREZ: Even attorney Gordon says Braun's approach in the Bakley case may not be popular, but necessary to protect Robert Blake. As for the dream team reference, Levin says he finds it embarrassing.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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