BLAKE: I CAN'T READ
Source: NYPost.Com
By DAVID K. LI
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May 2, 2002 -- LOS ANGELES - A judge denied bail for actor Robert Blake yesterday, after he made a dramatic plea for freedom claiming dyslexia is harming his ability to defend himself.
Wearing a silver and white sports jacket, the former "Baretta" star's hair was greased up into a tough-guy pompadour.
Blake showed no emotion as Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nash sealed his immediate fate.
Blake, 68, is accused of the May 4, 2001, murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, outside a Studio City restaurant. He's charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of solicitation.
The murder charge carries a special-circumstance allegation, meaning Blake could get life without the possibility of parole, although prosecutors took the death penalty off the table last week.
The beleaguered thespian's lawyers argued that he poses no threat to the public and won't flee. Furthermore, the "In Cold Blood" star said his dyslexia handicaps him in sessions with his lawyers, requiring more time than usual.
Blake appeared to surprise his lawyer, Harland Braun, when he tapped him on the shoulder and asked to address the judge.
"I can't read," Blake said in a clear, clipped manner. "I spent grade school and high school sitting in back of the classroom with the children who couldn't talk English . . . I got straight D's."
Blake revealed his problem was diagnosed only in the past 15 years. He has even appeared in a calendar for the L.A. branch of the International Dyslexia Association.
Throughout his long screen career, Blake said he learned his roles by being fed lines from an army of assistants.
"My eyes have been my enemy. They've always been my enemy," Blake said. "I'm a severe dyslexic and I have brain damage."
While Nash denied Blake's request, the jurist said he'd consider the matter again after a preliminary hearing.
The reclusive actor is due back in court May 21, when lawyers set a date for a preliminary hearing. At that time, prosecutors will have to prove they have enough evidence to hold Blake for trial.
"I am not opposed . . . to setting bail at some point," Nash said. "I can't make any determination until after hearing the evidence. If it's appropriate I will set bail."
In opposing bail, prosecutors outlined a portion of their case against Blake and filed transcripts of incriminating phone calls and correspondence between the actor and his slain wife.
One letter from Bakley to Blake, dated July 17, 2000, shows the dead woman making repeated requests for the actor to marry her after she gave birth to their love child. Under the prosecution's theory, Blake whacked Bakley because he felt the longtime scammer had trapped him.
"If you are going to do this, make it at least a carat, size 6," Bakley wrote the actor, on Holiday Inn letterhead from Phillipsburg, N.J., in asking for her dream ring.
The three things Bakley wanted were the ring, Blake to sign notarized documents acknowledging that the child was his and a working phone number where she could reach him.
Prosecutors also presented phone records they claim show Blake tried to hire a hit man.