Actor Robert Blake’s Attorney Appeals Wrongful Death Verdict
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Robert Blake’s attorney on Wednesday appealed a $30 million wrongful death verdict against the actor, saying jurors discussed O.J. Simpson, 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 award to the family of Bonny Lee Bakley was the result of prejudice and jury misconduct and should be reversed, attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach wrote in the 55-page appeal. Bakley was shot to death as she sat in Blake’s car outside a restaurant where the two had just dined in May 2001. Blake told police he had left her alone briefly while he retrieved a gun that he carried for protection and had accidentally left behind in the restaurant. The actor was acquitted of his wife’s shooting death at his criminal trial in 2005 but found liable in the civil trial a few months later. In the document filed Wednesday with the California 2nd District Court of Appeal, Schwartzbach cited detailed post-trial affidavits from three jurors who also said that one juror cited the Bible as the basis for a finding of liability and another concealed that her daughter was under life sentence in a murder case. |