Robert Blake's attorney claims jurors who found the actor liable
for damages in his wife's death after his acquittal of murder were
out to get him before the civil trial began.
In an appeal filed Tuesday, M. Gerald Schwartzbach told a
three-judge panel of California's 2nd District Court of Appeal that
the jurors, who ordered Blake to pay the survivors of Bonny Lee
Bakley US$30 million, were incompetent, guilty of misconduct and
issued an award "so grossly excessive that it shocks the
conscience."
Bakley family lawyer Eric Dubin responded that although the jury
might have committed some minor errors, its verdict should
stand.
"Either you're going to trust the system or you're not. These
jurors were good people. They worked hard," he said, adding that
minor errors can occur in any trial.
The panel didn't indicate when it might issue a ruling. Blake,
74, was not in court.
Bakley was sitting in Blake's car in May 2001 when she was shot
outside a restaurant where the two had just eaten dinner. The actor
told police he left her alone briefly when he returned to the
restaurant to retrieve a gun he carried for protection and had
accidentally left behind.
A criminal court jury acquitted Blake of murder in 2005, but
Bakley's survivors had already filed a wrongful-death lawsuit, and
that proceeded to trial with a different legal team. In November
2005, Blake was found liable for his 44-year-old wife's death and
ordered the 30 million dollar award.
(Agencies via Xinhua January 17, 2008)
