Blake Won’t Face Death Penalty if Convicted

Los Angeles prosecutors said Thursday they will not seek the death penalty against Robert Blake, the 68-year-old actor accused of fatally shooting his wife last May.

Blake still faces a sentence of life in prison without parole if he is convicted of killing Bonny Lee Bakley on May 4, 2001, near a Studio City restaurant. He is being held without bail at Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.

Bakley’s sister, Margerry Bakley, said she was not upset by the prosecutors’ decision.

“It doesn’t lessen the charge,” she said. “He’s still facing life in prison with no parole if convicted.

“We don’t need more of this unnecessary pain and suffering.”

The decision by the district attorney’s office came after a committee of prosecutors considered factors including the actor’s age, whether he had previous felony convictions and the circumstances of the alleged crime, authorities said.

The committee reviewed a memo prepared by prosecutors Gregory A. Dohi and Patrick Dixon outlining the evidence against Blake and the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, said Asst. Dist. Atty. Peter Bozanich, who heads the office’s special circumstances committee.

The actor, best known for his 1970s television series “Baretta,” was arrested at his Hidden Hills home last week, and Monday pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, soliciting murder and conspiracy.

His bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, 46, of Burbank, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy.

Blake’s lawyer, Harland W. Braun, said Thursday that the prosecution’s decision not to pursue the death penalty relieves some of the pressure felt by those involved with the case.

“I think it is just absolutely wonderful that they did it so early,” Braun said.

Prosecutors allege Blake shot Bakley, 44, while she sat in the couple’s car near Vitello’s restaurant, where they had dined earlier in the evening.

Authorities have said Blake was unhappy in his marriage. According to Braun, prosecutors will try to prove that Blake tried to hire two stuntmen who worked on “Baretta” to kill Bakley.

Bozanich said Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley did not influence the decision not to seek the death penalty.

The panel that made the decision consists of the office’s top nine officials and three experienced trial deputies, who rotate into the position every three months.

Former Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner said he created the committee to make sure the death penalty is applied consistently throughout the county. He said Thursday’s decision follows the office’s long-standing policies.

Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and former federal prosecutor, said the prosecution’s decision was not surprising.

“Traditionally, the district attorney’s office has not charged domestic violence cases with the death penalty,” Levenson said.

Also, although prosecutors may say Blake’s celebrity was not a factor in their decision, Levenson said it would weigh on jurors’ minds.

Trying for the death penalty would have increased the media frenzy around the case, said Franklin E. Zimring, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law.

“One of the ghosts every Halloween is the ghost of the O.J. Simpson trial,” he said. “So raising the stakes in a situation where you don’t have to is something best avoided.”

But Zimring said prosecutors give up a bargaining chip by choosing not to seek the death penalty.

“The tactical advantage which is surrendered in excluding a death penalty on the quick side,” he said, “is the ability to provoke a plea.”

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Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this report.