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Lawyers: Ample Evidence for Blake Trial

Posted on: Friday, 17 October 2003, 06:00 CDT

Prosecutors, responding to a defense motion for dismissal of murder charges against actor Robert Blake, said Friday there is "more than sufficient" evidence for a trial.

Blake, 69, star of the old "Baretta" TV show, is awaiting trial on charges of murdering Bonny Lee Bakley, whom he married after tests showed he was the father of her daughter.

In a filing Friday, prosecutors asked the judge to reject a defense motion to dismiss murder and conspiracy charges against Blake.

A hearing on the dismissal motion is scheduled for Oct. 31. The trial is set for Feb. 9.

Deputy District Attorney Patrick Dixon said testimony at a preliminary hearing in the case showed that Blake discussed killing his wife "in a manner strikingly similar to the manner in which she actually was killed."

"He talked about having her killed over a year before the murder. He plotted to have his wife arrested. He asked two men to kill her within weeks of the murder," said the prosecution motion.

Dixon added that Blake was in the area when she was killed, and had gunshot residue on his hands and clothing.

"Common sense dictates...that the evidence was more than sufficient to bind Robert Blake over for trial," the motion concluded.

Defense attorneys filed papers in September arguing that there was insufficient evidence to try Blake. They said the gunshot residue means nothing because Blake admittedly carried a weapon that night.

The defense motion claimed no forensic evidence links Blake to the shooting and no DNA tests connected him to the murder weapon

Bakley, 44, was shot on May 4, 2001, as she sat in a car outside a restaurant where she and Blake had dined. The actor was charged with the murder a year later.

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