# Robert Blake goes free **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 16, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887 "2005-03-16T23:19:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/21 "2005-03-17T03:46:07Z")
Guilty of murder: probably not. Causing her to be murdered: probably so. Two witnesses testified that he approached them for murder for hire. The jury disregarded it. ---
**Author:** ![mike1dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@mike1dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mike1dog)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/22 "2005-03-17T03:54:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Guilty of murder: probably not. Causing her to be murdered: probably so. Two witnesses testified that he approached them for murder for hire. The jury disregarded it. The foreman in the press conference basically said these were pretty unreliable witnesses who contradicted themselves and were incoherent to boot, so I’m not sure that I would say there was no reasonable doubt here. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/23 "2005-03-17T03:59:29Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Guilty of murder: probably not. Causing her to be murdered: probably so. Two witnesses testified that he approached them for murder for hire. The jury disregarded it. From what I gather, said witnesses were unreliable-drug dealers and didn’t one have some mental issues? ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/24 "2005-03-17T04:00:30Z")
I am glad he has been freed. I think she was trashy… a user and a thief. If he had nothing to do with her demise, he is fortunate for the result, as is the world. To compair this situation to that shit with OJ is the height of stupidity. For once, a little justice has been served. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/25 "2005-03-17T04:06:20Z")
> [@Nicodemus2004](#): > > I am glad he has been freed. I think she was trashy… a user and a thief. If he had nothing to do with her demise, he is fortunate for the result, as is the world. To compair this situation to that shit with OJ is the height of stupidity. For once, a little justice has been served. So what if she was? She still didn’t deserve to be murdered. Now, whether or not Blake did it is another story. (My personal belief is that he hired someone to off her.) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/26 "2005-03-17T04:56:27Z")
Does this make Jackson the “tie-breaker”? And if so, for who? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/27 "2005-03-17T05:02:01Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > Does this make Jackson the “tie-breaker”? And if so, for who? > > 😉 At least somebody mentioned in this thread is thinking of the children. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/28 "2005-03-17T05:38:58Z")
> [@The Hook](#): > > Back to the OP: You know what this means, right? A brand new, sad generation of never-ending Leno jokes. It’s not Blake’s fault that people keep encouraging Leno by watching him. As for the OP, I have a knee-jerk reaction that says he did it, but he was found not guilty of the charges, and I can concede that my impulse could easily be wrong. Any opinion I form of it is going to be substantially less informed than that of the jury. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/29 "2005-03-17T06:18:34Z")
I’m curious how long it will be before there’s a TV movie about it- and Blake plays himself. Of course with Blake, if he _did_ do it then he’ll probably admit it once this and the civil trial are over. Correction to above: it was Bakley-Blake’s _last_ illegitimate child of unknown paternity that she named Jerry Lee Lewis (though DNA tests verified it wasn’t the singers). This one was originally Rose Christine Brando as she thought the father was Christian Brando (Marlon’s oldest son [the one who clipped his sister’s boyfriend] and who is literally about 2 IQ points north of legally retarded) but it turned out it was Blake’s. My bet: Blake and O.J. Simpson will star in a revival of _The Sunshine Boys_. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/30 "2005-03-17T06:21:08Z")
> [@Astroboy14](#): > > Jesus, man! WE GET IT! You don’t like Bush. …thereby demonstrating that you _don’t_ “get it.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/31 "2005-03-17T06:24:49Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > …thereby demonstrating that you _don’t_ “get it.” :rolleyes: OK, let’s skip the political differences. What the hell are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/32 "2005-03-17T06:46:35Z")
Why does the OP get all riled up over one (possible) murderer walking free when there are folks who have gotten away with worse? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/33 "2005-03-17T07:10:30Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Why does the OP get all riled up over one (possible) murderer walking free when there are folks who have gotten away with worse? _Yeah, I know I was going to stay out of the thread. I’m human. Deal with it_😉 Well, that was the point (I think) of the post where you were quoted the first time. **Chefguy** seems upset that Blake was acquitted, and you wandered in to shock us all by stating your dislike of Bush. I guess the question is, what do Blake and Bush have to do with each other? Start another Pit thread. This was (I thought) about Blake. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/34 "2005-03-17T08:11:52Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’m curious how long it will be before there’s a TV movie about it- and Blake plays himself. Are you insane?? Blake will be played by [Barry Pepper](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001608/) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/35 "2005-03-17T08:23:26Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Why does the OP get all riled up over one (possible) murderer walking free when there are folks who have gotten away with worse? What, so we’re only allowed to Pit the most severe case of any particular crime? Why go on and on about Bush when there are other country’s leaders who have a worse record? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/36 "2005-03-17T08:34:43Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > The fuck? “I went to my car to get a gun, and found my wife inside, shot to death.” > > Bullshit. A slight correction is in order here. He didn’t go to his car to get his gun. He left his wife in the car while he returned to Vitello’s restaurant approximately a block and a half away where he had supposed left his gun while eating there. When he returned to the car, he allegedly found Bakley shot but still alive and moaning. The gun he allegedly retrieved from the restaurant was not the murder weapon, and they could not connect the murder weapon to him. Nor did he have sufficient gunpowder on his hands to show he’d fired a gun; only enough to have come from Bakley when he came into contact with the area around the wound. I’m another one who thinks he had it done, but I don’t think he did it himself and I don’t think the authorities ever came close to finding out who the hit man was. And you’re not supposed to charge people with, nor find them guilty of, murder simply because you ‘know’ they did it even though you can’t come up with the evidence to prove it. The prosecution never had a case, and if Blake hadn’t been a celebrity, and the police and prosecutor hadn’t been so anxious to at last acheive a celebrity murder conviction, I don’t think the case would have ever gone to trial. (And as an aside, I’ve always thought it was at least somewhat disquieting that he call 911 while she was still alive and her moans could be heard in the background. You would think that he would want to wait till she was dead before calling if he truly wanted her dead. But on the other hand, maybe he was horrified at seeing her wounded and suffering and reflexively called for help despite himself. I don’t know, but it’s an interesting aspect to his actions after finding her.) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/37 "2005-03-17T08:46:48Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > The prosecution never had a case, and if Blake hadn’t been a celebrity, and the police and prosecutor hadn’t been so anxious to at last acheive a celebrity murder conviction, I don’t think the case would have ever gone to trial. **Starving** , you know I love you, but you are out of your mind. If it had been ME in Blake’s situation, I would have been on death row a year ago. The only reason Blake is a free man is that he is a celebrity AND he had the resources to fight the case. I do not subscribe to the belief that any prosecutors are anxious to go after celebrity defendants. I believe it gives them pause, and they do so only because not acting will look\* even worse \* than losing. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/38 "2005-03-17T09:01:23Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > **Starving** , you know I love you, but you are out of your mind. If it had been ME in Blake’s situation, I would have been on death row a year ago. Well, first of all, thanks for the compliment, **spooje**. I didn’t know you cared. 😉 > [@spooje](#): > > I do not subscribe to the belief that any prosecutors are anxious to go after celebrity defendants. I believe it gives them pause, and they do so only because not acting will look\* even worse \* than losing. I don’t think they’re anxious to go after celebrity defendants, per se, but I do think they feel a strong obligation to the public not to be perceived as going easy on celebrities, and I think they have become determined over time to prove they can go after a celebrity and make it stick. That’s what I was referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/39 "2005-03-17T09:09:58Z")
> [@](#): > > **Nicodemus2004** : I am glad he has been freed. I think she was trashy… a user and a thief. If he had nothing to do with her demise, he is fortunate for the result, as is the world. To compair this situation to that shit with OJ is the height of stupidity. For once, a little justice has been served. Although the presumption of innocence still stands, and I’m glad for it, I don’t think people can beat the rap based on what Mark Twain called “commendable homicide.” I couldn’t have served on the jury. Blake was a childhood hero: [Little Beaver](http://www.antiqnet.com/detail,robert-blake-photograph,257059.html) in the Red Ryder Westerns. When I look at that photo, I am four years old again and can’t tell fact from fiction. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887/40 "2005-03-17T10:28:05Z")
> [@F. U. Shakespeare](#): > > I also heard she was a low-rent star-fucker, trying to get any male celebrity with a pulse to knock her up. She named her baby by Blake after Jerry Lee Lewis, apparently not being sure whose it was. That was a different daughter that she tried to pawn off on Jerry Lee Lewis (man, there’s good papa material for you). Last I heard, Jerri Lee was being raised by Bonnie’s ex-husband, the father of her two oldest children. Bonnie didn’t know if Robert Blake or Christian Brando (Marlon’s kid; served time for killing his sister’s boyfriend) was the father of her fourth child. DNA tests proved that it was Blake’s baby–they named her Rosie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-blake-goes-free/294887.md?page=3)