Court Rules on Blake Bail Hearing

The California Supreme Court paved the way Wednesday for Robert Blake to receive a bail hearing, six months after the actor was jailed for allegedly shooting his wife to death.

In a one-paragraph order, the high court instructed authorities to argue before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lloyd M. Nash why Blake is not entitled to an immediate bail hearing.

Blake, 69, has been held without bail in Men’s Central Jail in downtown L.A. since his April 18 arrest in the killing of Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, near a Studio City restaurant.

The Supreme Court said authorities must show “the facts are evident or the presumption great” that Blake killed Bakley while lying in wait, a special circumstance that carries the death penalty.

Although prosecutors have said they will not seek death in this case, Blake has been denied bail because he is charged with capital murder. Blake has pleaded not guilty to that charge as well as two counts of soliciting murder and conspiracy.

No hearing has been scheduled, but the Supreme Court set a Monday deadline for authorities to file a response.

Blake’s attorney Harland W. Braun said the order is “clearly a defeat for the district attorney.” If the lying-in-wait allegation is thrown out, Braun said, Blake would be entitled to post bail and be released from jail.

Spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office agrees that Blake should have a bail hearing, but she said it should be held after evidence is presented at the preliminary hearing, which is scheduled to begin Nov. 13 in Van Nuys.

“If we had had a preliminary hearing in a timely fashion, this would have been done a long time ago,” she said.

The order was signed by Chief Justice Ronald M. George and associate justices Joyce L. Kennard, Kathryn M. Werdegar, Ming W. Chin and Carlos Moreno.