Blake’s Lawyer Is Undeterred by Theft

Actor Robert Blake’s attorney has argued that Los Angeles police mishandled the murder investigation of his client. On Thursday, he found himself relying on the expertise of LAPD investigators to help save his case.

M. Gerald Schwartzbach’s computer was stolen from his Sherman Oaks home Wednesday as a Van Nuys jury was sworn in to decide whether Blake, 71, killed his wife.

No suspects have been identified in the theft. The computer contained arguments, strategies and other documents and “was the heart and soul of the defense case,” according to an attorney appointed by the court to oversee the burglary investigation.

“I am going to try this case whether I retrieve that computer or not,” Schwartzbach said, facing reporters outside the Van Nuys courthouse.

He declined to say how much, if any, of his material had been backed up on another system or how long it might take to reconstruct his defense should that become necessary.

Pretrial motions that had been scheduled for Thursday were moved to Monday.

It was another postponement in a much-delayed case. Blake’s wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, was killed May 4, 2001, and he was charged with the crime a year later. Three previous lawyers have either quit or been fired.

The most recent change in lawyers came in February, when jury selection was postponed after Blake’s lawyer at the time, Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., quit, citing “irreconcilable differences” with his client.

Monday’s trial date has not been changed, but Schwartzbach said he reserved the right to do so after he has had a chance to sort through his remaining documents.

The situation angered Eric Dubin, the attorney who has represented Bakley’s children by other men.

He charged that the Blake defense was trying to forestall “the inevitable.”

“Lost lawyers and lost documents have bought Blake years of freedom, while Bonny’s children suffer yet another Christmas without a mother,” said Dubin. “This latest attempt by Blake to delay trial is extremely suspect in both nature and timing.”

Blake faces life in prison if convicted of killing Bakley while she sat alone in his parked car near a Studio City restaurant where the couple had just dined.

Prosecutors contend that the actor asked two stuntmen to kill Bakley but that neither agreed. Both will be key prosecution witnesses.

The burglary took place the same day a seven-man, five-woman jury was selected. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Darlene E. Schempp told jurors to return to court Monday.

The bizarre nature of Wednesday’s turn of events was evident in Schempp’s appointment of a special master to oversee the LAPD probe at the office of Schwartzbach, who in hearings leading up to trial has criticized the department’s work in the case against his client.

Schempp asked attorney James Blatt to supervise the theft investigation to ensure that materials related to Blake’s defense were not compromised. Blatt said the missing articles included Schwartzbach’s “reports, strategies and analysis.”

The inventory of missing items included the computer, computer memory and Schwartzbach’s golf clubs.

Schwartzbach, who said he got about an hour of sleep Wednesday night, was given the weekend to recover and assess the fallout from the break-in.

But Schwartzbach, who practices in Mill Valley, Calif., and specializes in appellate law, was resolute about his commitment to his client and presenting a case to the jury.

“Anyone who really knows me, knows that the word ‘quit’ is not in my vocabulary,” Schwartzbach said. “I may not speak very loudly, but at the risk of being immodest, I’m a very good lawyer to my clients. I allow nothing -- nothing -- to deter me from fulfilling my ethical obligations to my client.”