Robert Blake Trial Postponed Indefinitely

The Robert Blake murder trial was postponed indefinitely Thursday after the judge agreed to remove the actor’s attorney because of “irreconcilable differences” between the lawyer and client.

Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp set a hearing for Feb. 23, at which time she hoped a new lawyer would have been chosen. Jury selection had been expected to enter its final phase Feb. 17.

Thomas Mesereau Jr. is the third Blake lawyer to leave the case. Jennifer Keller and Harland Braun previously served the former star of the 1970s television show “Baretta.”

Blake, 70, is charged with shooting his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, to death as she sat in a car outside an Italian restaurant where the two had just eaten dinner.

Blake told authorities he left Bakley alone in the car to retrieve a gun he carried for protection and had accidentally left behind in the restaurant. He said he returned to find her mortally wounded.