Blake’s Daughter Awarded His Baby

Robert Blake’s 35-year-old daughter won temporary guardianship Thursday of her baby half sister Rose, the child born of the actor and the woman he is accused of murdering.

Delinah Blake pumped her fist and mouthed “Yes!” at the end of a brief hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courthouse, at which Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner H. Ronald Hauptman pronounced Rose Lenore Sophia Blake hers, at least for now.

A July 25 hearing is scheduled on Delinah’s petition to be declared permanent guardian of the child, who turns 2 next month.

In a declaration, Delinah Blake stated that she and her father, star of the the 1970s television series “Baretta,” have jointly cared for Rose since she was about 3 months old. “Over the past year and a half, I have functioned in all respects as Rose’s mother and we have bonded together as mother and child,” wrote Blake, who is working toward a doctorate in clinical psychology.

The judge denied a request by a lawyer for the family of Robert Blake’s dead wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, to restrict the actor to hourlong visitations under the supervision of an armed bodyguard if he is freed. Blake, 68, is being held without bail on charges of shooting Bakley outside a Studio City restaurant on May 4 last year.

After the hearing, Delinah Blake’s lawyer, Terry McNiff, criticized the Bakley family for trying “to insinuate themselves into this baby’s life.” Delinah Blake declined to comment.

Cary W. Goldstein, the Bakleys’ attorney, said he made the request because the family is concerned that Robert Blake, whom he described as “morose and depressed,” will try to harm Rose. “We don’t know what goes on in the mind of a person like that,” Goldstein told reporters. “He very well could take Rosie down with himself.”

The family has said that it would not seek custody of Rose.

Prosecutors have alleged that Blake had discussed killing Bakley in late 1999, when she was pregnant with Rose. Blake’s defense lawyer, Harland Braun, said after the guardianship hearing that his client “loves the baby and he would die for the baby.”

Braun said his client has not seen his daughter since his April 18 arrest. “Rosie’s old enough not to want to see her father behind glass,” Braun said. “I think it’d be too shocking for her.”