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Blake denied bail in wife's killing

Blake told the hearing: "For the past year, I've been silent ... but this is where I have to make my fight."

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A judge denied bail Wednesday for actor Robert Blake as prosecutors accused him of plotting to kill his wife more than a year before her slaying in 2001.

Blake, 68, is accused of murder and other charges in the May 4, 2001, death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. Bakley, 44, was shot in the head outside a Studio City restaurant where she and Blake had just finished dinner.

Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nash ordered Blake to remain in custody but said he may reconsider the ruling at a May 21 hearing. Prosecutors have said they would seek a sentence of life without parole against Blake instead of the death penalty.

Blake's lawyer, Harland Braun, said his client is not a flight risk. "They just want to keep him locked up, because it's easier to convict you when you're locked up," he told CNN's "Larry King Live" Wednesday night.

Blake is charged with four criminal counts: first-degree murder, two counts of solicitation of murder and one count of conspiring with his bodyguard, Earle Caldwell. He has been jailed since April 18.

Blake pleaded not guilty to the charges last week, as did Caldwell, who was charged with conspiracy. Caldwell was later released on $1 million bond, which Blake posted.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO A judge denied bail for actor Robert Blake as prosecutors accused him of plotting to kill his wife more than a year before her slaying in 2001. CNN's Eric Horng reports (May 2) Play video Harland Braun, attorney for actor Robert Blake, says denying bail deprives his client of participating in his defense (May 1) Play video   MORE STORIES People in the News: Tough new role for "Baretta" star    EXTRA INFORMATION • Felony complaint: People v. Blake (FindLaw) (PDF) • Wrongful death suit: Tual v. Blake (FindLaw) (PDF)     LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

According to police and prosecutors, an unhappily married Blake killed his wife of six months after trying unsuccessfully to hire hit men to do the job.

In court papers filed Wednesday, prosecutors said Blake suggested having his wife killed to a private investigator as early as 1999, when she was pregnant with their daughter.

According to the documents, Blake met with a private investigator in late 1999 and told him he had gotten Bakley pregnant and that she would not accept money to go away.

Blake, the document said, suggested he and the investigator "could force victim Bakley to have an abortion or in the alternative, 'whack her.'"

The couple's daughter, Rosie, was born June 2, 2000.

Forensic tests found gunpowder residue on Blake's body and clothing the night of the shooting, according to other prosecution documents filed Wednesday.

Braun questioned the value of the tests, noting that Blake acknowledged carrying a gun that night to protect Bakley.

In court Wednesday, Blake said he wants to see his daughter, now a toddler. He made no direct reference to his wife's death but said dyslexia has hampered his ability to prepare a defense.

"For the past year, I've been silent ... but this is where I have to make my fight," Blake said.

He said he needed to "hear those thousands and thousands of pages" of evidence accumulated by the prosecution. He criticized media coverage of the case and he talked about his struggles as a child in school.

"My eyes are my enemy," Blake said. "They've always been my enemy. ... I am a severe dyslexic and I also have brain damage."

While Blake has been in jail, his grown daughter, Delinah, has been taking care of Rosie. A May 9 hearing could award her guardianship of the child.

Bakley's sister Margerry leaves the courthouse after the hearing.

Cary Goldstein, the lawyer for Bakley's family, said Delinah Blake has offered to let Bakley's sister, Margerry Bakley, visit the girl. "We don't have any problems with Delinah raising the child," Goldstein said.

"So long as Robert's out of the picture, we're OK," Goldstein said. But he said the family has doubts about the child's safety should Blake be released on bail.

"We think this man has some severe issues. We think, No. 1, he murdered the child's mother," he said.

Blake began his acting career as a child in the "Our Gang" and "Red Ryder" movie serials. He starred in the 1970s television detective series "Baretta" and played condemned killer Perry Smith in the 1967 movie version of Truman Capote's nonfiction book "In Cold Blood."