L.A. sheriff: Actor Robert Blake can do TV interview

By The Associated Press

02.20.03

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LOS ANGELES — The sheriff's department has approved a request by Barbara Walters to interview actor Robert Blake, who has watched two defense attorneys quit his murder case after disagreeing over whether he should grant TV interviews.

Sheriff Lee Baca has agreed to let Walters speak with the former "Baretta" star at the Men's Central Jail. Blake has pleaded innocent to charges he murdered his wife, 44-year-old Bonny Lee Bakley.

Baca told the Los Angeles Times on Feb. 14 that he was swayed by Walters' argument that she had conducted jail interviews in the past. Baca, in reversing his decision, said he didn't realize that camera crews had access to the jail and its celebrity inmates before he took office.

"It had been done before and did not cause a great headache to the system," Baca said. "I thought I should allow it."

Blake, 69, has tried to set up interviews with Walters and Diane Sawyer for months, despite the objections of his criminal defense attorneys. Harland Braun and Jennifer L. Keller both resigned from the case after Blake continued pursing the interviews.

Blake's current lawyer, Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., said he would stand by Blake even though he strongly disagrees with his client's decision.

"I am opposed to Mr. Blake making any statement, and I refuse to authorize any interview," Mesereau said. "However, Mr. Blake is an innocent man who needs my help, and I will never abandon him."

Mesereau said he spoke to Baca but refused to sign off on the Walters interview. It later was authorized by Chuck Meyer, Blake's business lawyer.

"He wants to get his story out," Meyer said. "He wants to counter the image of him as the villain. We are not going to stop it. It's his life."

An ABC spokesman told the Los Angeles Times that the interview was being taped for a future edition of "20/20."

Blake has been held without bail since his April 18 arrest. A preliminary hearing has been set for Feb. 26.

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