Blake’s lawyer files appeal in wrongful-death case

Jurors in Robert Blake’s civil trial discussed the cases of O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson, ignored the lack of evidence that Blake killed his wife and decided to “send a message that celebrities and rich people cannot get away with murder,” the actor’s attorney said in an appeal filed Wednesday.

Blake’s lawyer argued that the award of $30 million to the family of Bonny Lee Bakley in the wrongful-death case was the result of prejudice and jury misconduct and should be reversed.

The actor was found liable for her death in the civil trial after being acquitted of murder in a criminal trial.

In the filing with the California 2nd District Court of Appeal, lawyer M. Gerald Schwartzbach cited post-trial affidavits from three jurors who also said that one juror cited the Bible as the basis for a finding of liability and that another concealed that her daughter was under a life sentence in a murder case.

“In a case featuring no forensic evidence or confession linking appellant Robert Blake to the murder of decedent Bonny Lee Bakley, nor any testimony by an eyewitness to the killing, a jury found him liable ... and imposed a gargantuan award of $30 million for compensatory damages,” the appeal said.

The jurors’ intent was to punish Blake, something they were prohibited from doing in a case that did not address punitive damages, Schwartzbach wrote.

Blake’s wife was shot to death in the actor’s car in May 2001 near a restaurant where the two had dined.

He told police he had left her alone briefly while he retrieved a gun he carried for protection and had accidentally left behind in the restaurant.

On March 16, 2005, Blake was acquitted of murdering his wife. But Bakley’s survivors had already filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, and that proceeded to trial with a different legal team. In November 2005, a jury found Blake liable and awarded the family $30 million.