Well, it's official, Robert Blake has become the latest casualty in the corrupt legal court system and it's recent phenomenon of totally disregarding legal and constitutional precedent by figuring out a way to get around the law against double jeopardy. Though Blake was found not guilty, in criminal court, on all counts pertaining to the accussations as to his suppossed involvement in the murder of his late wife, Bonnie Lee Bakely, he was still convicted, in civil court. The Judgement? Blake, it has been determined, was responsible for the death of Bakely, and is ordered therefore to pay damages to the sum of thirty mllion dollars.
Blake must have smelled this coming shortly after his earlier not guilty verdict was handed down, and put it out, somewhat obviously, and obviously innefectively, that he was all but broke. But the family of Bakely was out for blood. They had pretty much intimated along with their attorney that they would be seeking this action regardless of the outcome of the criminal proceedings. And so they did.
My feelings about all this are pretty firm. To begin with, the only thing Blake should be prosecuted for is being stupid enough-and I do mean stupid enough-to allow himself to become involved with this piece of garbage to begin with. In a sense, for that reason alone, he deserves whatever happens to him. But that doesn't make it right.
And of course, I firmly believe that whatever the decision reached in a criminal cvourt might be, that should be it. If a person is found not guilty, regardless fo the veracity fo the verdict, well, that's the way it is, asnd that's the way it should stand. There should be no other court proceedings, civil or otherwise.
And as for the Bakely family- This is a family of obvious grifters. Everytime I see them on television, and their lawyer as well, I feel the sudden need to take a long hot bath, followed by a long hotter shower to make sure the scum is completely washed away. It may sound cruel and inhuman, but if Blake killed this bitch I say more power to him, I wouldn't have blamed him a bit. And had I been on the jury, I probably would have found him Not Guilty for precisely this reason, unless the evidence had been so compelling and overwhelming there would be no reasonable way to avoid a guilty verdict. But I damned sure would have been looking for a way. I mean, this is a woman who lived to try to ingratiate herself with wealthy, prominent, and famous men, for the purpose of living off them. In Blakes case, she purposely got herself pregnant by him, after assurring Blake she used birth control, and then insisting she couldn't bear the thought of an abortion. Blake was livid, and sounded menacing on the taped conversation that I heard replayed on television. It was obvious to him that he had been scammed.
Another of her potential targets had been Chrisitian Brando, son of late actor Marlon Brando, who himself had been in a great deal of legal trouble. But it was Blake who ended up getting her pregnant. She had tried this same stunt with Brando at approximately the same time , and in the beginning didn't know for sure which of the two men the child belonged to.
There was a great deal of acrimoney between the two after they were married, which Blake foolishly insisted upon, knowing that he would be the object of lawsuits otherwise, and probably realized he still could be. God only knows what happenned in the interim, between th emarriage and the murder, but Blakely, while living on the property, did not live with Blake in his home.
But at any rate, whether Blake had it done or not, or did himself or not, the deed was done. Blake could probably appeal tje verdict, but what woulkd be theuse. My advice to him-return to Hollywood, make another movie, maybe two or three, or more. The right flicks would certainly make him enough money to cover the cost of this lawsuit.
Unfortunatley, Blake's reputation in Hollywood is that of a man who is not easy, to say the least, to get along with, to work with-to live with.
