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Harland Braun: LAPD focusing on Robert Blake

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Harland Braun, attorney for Robert Blake  


CNN Legal Analyst Roger Cossack questioned Robert Blake's attorney Harland Braun about the investigation into the murder of the actor's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, in an exclusive interview Tuesday live on CNN's Burden of Proof.

COSSACK: You have been criticized for releasing tapes of Bonny Bakley over the weekend. I understand that if you have evidence you must turn it over to police for their investigation, but why release it to the media?

BRAUN: One of the reasons we have been releasing limited evidence to the media is because we are trying to push the LAPD into doing a complete investigation. They say they are investigating all possibilities, but they are really focusing on Robert Blake. We have no problem with them investigating Robert Blake thoroughly and completely because he was obviously there and the husband and a logical person to be investigated by the police. But they seem to have closed their minds to any other possibilities and thrown the burden on the defense to preserve evidence. Actually, my investigators have seized more evidence in this case than the Los Angeles Police Department and we actually turned it over to them last week at their request.

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CNN's Charles Feldman reports on audio recordings made by Bonny Lee Bakley (May 12)

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COSSACK: Why do you believe that the Los Angeles Police Department has focused in on Robert Blake? We just saw a clip of the commander from the police department last night say that Robert Blake isn't a suspect and that there are no suspects in this case. Aren't you in some ways fanning the flames of Robert Blake by releasing all of this evidence to the media?

BRAUN: No, actually, they are working on a statistical model that if a woman was not raped or robbed, it's most likely that her husband or boyfriend or some type of a personal involvement would be resultant in her death. This is not that kind of case and the Los Angeles Police Department, at least initially and last night, seems to dismiss Lee Bonny's background -- a very strange and sordid background -- as a potential area of investigation. In fact, they said last night that she is a victim, not a suspect, therefore we're not investigating her.

We're trying to push them in that direction. In fact, I've just brought on co-counsel -- Barry Levin who is a former LAPD detective -- because I think he may have the credibility to go to them and say, "Look guys, lets do a thorough investigation in this case."

COSSACK: Harland, from the tapes that have been released and what has appeared in the media, it appears that this was not a traditional kind of marriage. In fact, perhaps it seems like this was not if I may perhaps a very happy marriage. While Ms. Bakely was on the property with Mr. Blake, they did not stay in the same house. She apparently chose to stay in a separate home. There was a child that was born out of wedlock and these tapes seem to indicate that she at least thought about what she was doing when she chose to be with Blake. Doesn't this unhappiness make Blake an even greater suspect in this case?

BRAUN: Of course it does. This was not a traditional marriage at all. He only married her because she was the mother of his daughter and he felt an overwhelming obligation as a parent to take care of his daughter, and the only way he could insure his daughter's presence here was by marrying Lee Bonny.

However, their bodyguard and assistant traveled with them for several weeks and it appears that they were getting along pretty well. He was at least making an effort to put together a home for Rosie and at least reform the mother. Lee Bonny, though, apparently wanted to move most of her business out to Los Angeles and that's one of the reasons she stayed in the back house, because she worked through the night with these kind of activities where she would induce men to send her money and so forth.

COSSACK: But your client knew all of this before he married her and yet chose to marry her and yet this marriage that was not a particularly traditional one to say the least -- doesn't that all add up to make him sort of an unhappy man and a suspect?

BRAUN: Well he didn't do a background check on her before he had sex with her, therefore he didn't choose the mother of his daughter. He did do a background check (later) and realized he was doing this type of long-term scam and he hoped that by bringing her out here, giving her money, relieving her of the necessity of earning a living, bringing her to live with him and giving her what she always dreamed of -- which was being married to a star and being part of Hollywood -- that she would reform and give up these activities.

She did not give them up. She continued them, unfortunately, and that's the source of a potential area for police to investigate. Someone out there who she led to believe she was in love with, who looked forward to being with her and then reads in the paper that she married Robert Blake.

COSSACK: What I'm suggesting is that if Robert Blake wanted her to reform and she didn't reform, isn't that the kind of the thing that would make the police interested in your client, because he wasn't happy with what she was doing?

BRAUN: Absolutely, and we have no problems fully cooperating with the investigation. He spent four hours talking to them, we have turned over more evidence to them than they've seized. My investigators have stood ready to work with the police investigators if they have any questions of them.

The fact that someone might have a marginal motive to get rid of someone doesn't mean that they killed them. It was not a happy situation but it seemed to be getting better and it certainly wouldn't have resulted in Robert Blake killing her.

Despite his roles in the movies and on television -- which are usually some evil person -- he's a very gentle man. He's never been in a fight. I think some of his public image may have been hurting him in the media.

COSSACK: There have been reports that a weapon was found in a Dumpster about a block and a half from where the killing occurred. Do you know whether or not police have found the weapon?

BRAUN: It was reported in the paper this morning and it was good news and bad news. The good news is they found that weapon, and I believe the report. The bad news is the police talked about it to someone who worked with the Dumpster, gave him details of the location and the condition of the weapon and made them public, which was not good police work. The location and condition of the murder weapon is something that is only known to the killer and maybe some confidant. So, if someone comes forward with information, it's better if the police keep that information secret, they can verify the credibility of any future witness.

COSSACK: Are you surprised that a weapon was allegedly found so close to the murder scene or does it fit with your theory of what might have happened in this case?

BRAUN: It's typical for an assassin or professional hit to acquire a weapon that is non-traceable to them to commit the killing and then leave the actual weapon right at the scene like this. So we anticipated the weapon would be found. We were somewhat disappointed that it took police 48 hours to go back to the dumpster and check around the dumpster because of course any scrap of fiber or any trace of evidence could led police to the killer. That may have been lost between the time of the killing and the time that police got around to looking in the Dumpster.

COSSACK: It is important to your client's story that he was not present when the killing occurred. It's his story that he left his weapon in the restaurant. I've left my keys, my wallet and my glasses in a restaurant, but the idea of leaving a weapon in a restaurant is difficult to believe, wouldn't you agree?

BRAUN: Well it's unusual. What happened was he does not have a holster for it so he kept it in his waistband. He sat down in the restaurant and it hurt so he put it to the side next to him with his sweatshirt over it. So when he got up, he put on the sweatshirt, forgot about the weapon which fell to the ground where he recovered it. He goes to the car, which was not that far as reports indicate, sits down and realizes the weapon was not there. He goes back and quickly grabs the weapon and by the time he got back his wife was dead.

It's a very unusual situation, but the world is full of unusual situations.

I should add that if someone who didn't like Lee Bonny Bakley wanted to track her, Robert Blake is a person of habit. He goes to that restaurant three or four times a week so it would be very easy for someone who wanted to get Mr. Blake or get his wife to just wait out there because they would be there on a regular basis.

COSSACK: Do you expect your client to be arrested?

BRAUN: No I don't. Obviously, Roger, you have represented a lot of people and a criminal defense attorney has to make some judgment in his own mind whether his client is guilty or not guilty in terms of strategy. I've made the judgment from everything I've seen in this case and from interacting with Robert for a long period of time, as well as from talking to his long-time lawyers and friends, that he is not guilty. And I'm premising my defense on that. The better the police investigation is, the better it is for Robert Blake because he's innocent. An innocent person wants a thorough and complete investigation.


Greta@LAW






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• CNN Programs - Burden of Proof
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