Blake’s Daughter Wins Guardianship

Robert Blake’s older daughter was granted permanent guardianship Thursday of the actor’s 2-year-old child with the woman he is accused of killing.

Delinah Blake, 35, has cared for the child, Rose Lenore Sophia Blake, since their father was arrested April 18 in the fatal shooting of his 44-year-old wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, near a Studio City restaurant in May 2001.

In his ruling, Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner H. Ronald Hauptman denied a request by the child’s maternal aunt, Margerry Bakley, to delay a decision until she hired a family-law attorney to represent her interests.

Bakley said she wants the court to grant her visitation rights, but the judge said she did not have any standing as the child’s aunt. Bakley said she last saw her niece in April during a supervised visit at the home of one of Blake’s lawyers.

In her petition for guardianship, Delinah Blake said she had helped her father care for Rose since about September 2000, when the child was 3 months old. She also wrote that she was qualified to raise Rose, both as her half-sister and as a clinical psychologist who works with abused and neglected children.

Blake, 68, is being held without bail at Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, two counts of soliciting murder and conspiracy. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Outside the courtroom, Bakley, surrounded by her manager, an attorney and a bodyguard, said she wants Rose to grow up knowing her mother’s side of the family.

Her attorney, Eric J. Dubin, said Bakley just “wants to give the little girl a hug” and be able to tell Rose “I love you.”

Bakley also expressed concern about the child’s future. “If, in fact, Mr. Blake gets out of jail, I don’t want him near my niece,” she said.

Blake’s attorney, Barry Felsen, said his client will be pleased with the judge’s ruling. “This is exactly what should have happened,” Felsen said, adding that Blake was “most concerned” that Delinah Blake be allowed to raise the youngest of his three children. Blake also has an adult son.

Felsen said that Blake’s attorneys had been negotiating another visitation for Bakley, but that those discussions ended last month when she fired her attorney. He said Delinah Blake will now decide which relatives may spend time with the child.