Attorneys in Blake Trial Question Potential Jurors

Actor Robert Blake got his first glimpse of the people who could decide his fate Monday as lawyers began questioning prospective jurors about their attitudes toward the criminal justice system.

Blake’s lawyer asked the first few prospective jurors their opinions of the O.J. Simpson and Scott Peterson verdicts. He asked if they could withstand the media scrutiny that surrounds such high-profile cases.

“I would rather not be a juror, but [the media coverage] won’t affect me,” one woman said. “I would prefer not to be in the limelight. But whatever happens happens.... I could be unprejudiced.”

Jury selection in the case began last month, when more than 1,000 jurors were called to the Van Nuys courthouse for preliminary screening. Most were excused because they could not afford to be away from their jobs for the two to four months the trial is expected to last.

This is the second time this year that hundreds of jurors were summoned for the Blake trial. Jury selection was postponed in February after Blake’s then-lawyer, Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., quit, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

Since then, media interest in the case has faded. The 71-year-old Blake stood alone outside the courthouse smoking a cigarette during the afternoon break. There were no cameras.

That, however, is expected to change Dec. 6, when the judge permits cameras inside the courtroom to cover opening statements in the celebrity murder trial. At least 30 journalists from around the nation have applied to cover the trial.

To streamline the process, prospective jurors completed a lengthy questionnaire before coming to the courtroom. Lawyers reviewed their answers and decided in advance whom to eliminate.

The judge dismissed 117 of the 201 prospective jurors. Nine did not appear.

The remaining 75 jurors, dubbed “survivors” by the court, will be questioned individually over the next week. One woman interviewed Monday was hearing impaired and used a sign-language interpreter. She told lawyers that despite her disability, she believed she could be an impartial juror.

Those who remain after the next round will be ordered back to court Dec. 1 for the final step in securing 12 jurors and eight alternates.

Blake faces life in prison in the fatal shooting of his 44-year-old wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

Prosecutors say the former “Baretta” star asked two stuntmen to kill Bakley, and when they refused, he pulled the trigger himself. Bakley was killed May 4, 2001, near a Studio City restaurant, where she and Blake had dined.

Blake told police he had left Bakley in the passenger seat of his car and returned to the restaurant to retrieve a handgun that he had forgotten at their table. He said he returned to the car and found Bakley bleeding.