Blake Freed Until Trial

Robert Blake walked out of jail Friday after posting a $1.5- million bond.

The 69-year-old former star hurried from the downtown Los Angeles jail with his lawyer Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., who a day earlier had persuaded a judge to set bail pending the actor’s trial for murder. Free for the first time in 10 months, Blake, wearing a white T-shirt, told swarming reporters and photographers that he was “OK” and then disappeared into a black limousine.

The actor will be required to stay at an undisclosed location, and be subject to electronic monitoring at all times. His next court date is March 27.

The bail bond is the latest in long list of legal costs for Blake, who could spend as much as $3 million fighting charges that he fatally shot his wife, legal experts said.

Blake, whose wealth before his arrest was estimated at $6 million to $10 million, has already spent a substantial amount just trying to regain his freedom and shape public opinion.

The former “Baretta” star did not rush to assemble a legal dream team when he was arrested last year, but experts said Blake’s front-line representation is expected to be bolstered by a corps of expensive, behind-the-scenes advisors as he heads toward trial, which is expected to take place next year.

For those who can afford it, money buys criminal defendants the best of everything -- lawyers, expert witnesses and consultants.

“It doesn’t buy justice,” criminal defense attorney James E. Blatt said. “It buys expertise that can have significant impact on a case.”

In the early stages of the case, Blake’s costs soared as he ran through a series of attorneys who joined his team and later quit when he insisted on speaking out in the national media.

In the hours after Bonny Lee Bakley was killed as she sat in the actor’s car near a Studio City restaurant May 4, 2001, Blake retained prominent criminal defense attorney Harland W. Braun.

A source close to the case said the price of the retainer was $450,000.

Blake, who began his Hollywood career as a child star in the “Our Gang” movie series in the 1930s, also picked up the tab for two full-time private investigators, paying one a flat fee of $10,000 a month, the source said. The other is receiving an undisclosed hourly rate.

When Braun quit last year, Blake had the resources to hire two top lawyers, Mesereau and Jennifer L. Keller, who needed time to review mountains of evidence and familiarize themselves with the complex case that Braun had committed to memory. Keller quit when Blake ignored her advice and agreed to a television interview.

Adding to his costs, Blake is paying an attorney to represent his co-defendant, Earle S. Caldwell, who is charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Blake also posted $1-million bail for the handyman eight days after their arrests April 18, 2002.

Citing that financial relationship as a potential conflict of interest, Deputy Dist. Attys. Patrick R. Dixon and Gregory A. Dohi asked a judge last year to remove Caldwell’s lawyer, Arna H. Zlotnik, from the case.

They argued that a criminal defense attorney cannot accept money from one defendant to represent another in the same case without feeling some loyalty to the person paying the bills. But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lloyd M. Nash allowed Caldwell to waive all potential conflicts of interest and keep Zlotnik as his lawyer. On Thursday, Nash ordered both men to stand trial.

Blake also raised eyebrows last year when he hired William C. Jordan, a man whom prosecutors planned to call as a witness, to work as a private investigator for the defense team. Nash permitted Jordan to remain on Blake’s payroll, despite the prosecution’s objection that Blake was trying to influence the testimony of a witness.

Blake has already spent an estimated $800,000, according to a defense source. That bill could rapidly increase as the defense team picks up expert witnesses and jury consultants.

“The costs add up very quickly,” said lawyer Leonard Sharenow, noting that defendants can pay as much as $100,000 to put on a mock trial to gauge the response of potential jurors to defense evidence, or to predict how jurors might react if the defendant testifies.

If he were trying the Blake case, Blatt said, he would hire top-notch experts who specialized in blood splatter, gunshot residue and crime scene investigations.

Blatt said he would make sure they had experience to effectively persuade jurors and handle aggressive prosecutors.

With sufficient resources, trial lawyers also hire legal specialists, Sharenow said. Blake, for instance, hired appellate lawyer Paul Hoffman, known for his work with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, for the sole purpose of preparing the bail motion that Blake filed in state Supreme Court. He lost.

Blake’s civil lawyers also have been active in his criminal case. Terry McNiff, a litigator at Goldman & Kagon, sat behind Blake, typing notes into his laptop computer, throughout the 10-day preliminary hearing.

There also was a lawyer or two from Mesereau’s small mid-Wilshire firm monitoring the proceedings and helping prepare trial motions.

Although getting the best lawyers is expensive, some are more than willing to discount their rates in exchange for the publicity and the chance to rake in future business.

“I’m sure there are a lot of lawyers who would have volunteered to do the case,” Sharenow said.

On the bail issue, several lawyers had argued over the last 10 months that the actor should be freed pending trial.

Prosecutors were opposed, and both sides were surprised Thursday when the judge, after ordering Blake to stand trial for murder, also set bail, opening the legal door for his release Friday.

Blake, who looked weak and tired through most of the preliminary hearing, said Friday that he was thankful for his freedom.

“This isn’t my day,” he said. “It’s God’s day.”

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Times staff writer Hilda Munoz contributed to this report.