BLAKE'S BID FOR NEW CIVIL TRIAL DENIED $30 MILLION JUDGMENT AGAINST ACTOR UPHELD.Byline: Brad A. Greenberg Staff Writer BURBANK - A judge on Monday denied former "Baretta" star Robert Blake's request for a new civil trial and upheld the $30 million wrongful-death judgment against him. Blake, who in March 2005 was acquitted of murdering his wife but was later found liable in civil court for her shooting death, had appealed the verdict, alleging juror juror n. any person who actually serves on a jury. Lists of potential jurors are chosen from various sources such as registered voters, automobile registration or telephone directories. misconduct. In a one-sentence ruling, Superior Court Judge David M. Schacter rejected the motion for a new trial motion for a new trial n. a request made by the loser for the case to be tried again on the basis that there were significant legal errors in the way the trial was conducted and/or the jury or the judge sitting without a jury obviously came to an incorrect result. , but gave no explanation. Blake's attorneys said they intend to appeal. "To me it is completely inexplicable in·ex·pli·ca·ble adj. Difficult or impossible to explain or account for. in·ex  pli·ca·bil based upon the record before the court," said M. Gerald Schwartzbach, who defended Blake in his criminal trial and has rejoined his civil appeal. "We had documented, unrebutted, multiple incidences of egregious e·gre·gious adj. Conspicuously bad or offensive. See Synonyms at flagrant. [From Latin juror misconduct." According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. court documents, one juror declared before all the evidence had been presented that he believed Blake was responsible for his wife's death. Another juror said the Bible supported holding people liable, and a third neglected to tell the defense she had a daughter in prison for murder, documents show. Defense attorneys also filed declarations stating that jurors had talked about the trials of O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson Noun 1. Michael Jackson - United States singer who began singing with his four brothers and later became a highly successful star during the 1980s (born in 1958) Michael Joe Jackson, Jackson , both of whom were acquitted of criminal charges. Blake, 72, was charged in the May 2001 shooting death of Bonny Bonny (bŏn`ē), town, SE Nigeria, in the Niger River delta, on the Bight of Biafra. In the 18th and 19th cent., Bonny was the center of a powerful trading state, and in the 19th cent. it became the leading site for slave exportation in W Africa. Lee Bakley, whom he had married six months prior after she became pregnant with his daughter, Rosie. Blake, who recently filed for bankruptcy, said he left Bakley in the car while he ran back to Vitello's restaurant in Studio City to retrieve a handgun he carried for protection. When he returned, he found Bakley bleeding and slumped over. Eight months after he was acquitted, a Burbank civil jury voted 10-2 that Blake had "intentionally caused the death" of Bakley and ordered him to pay $30 million to her four adult children. "What the Blake lawyers tried to do is piece together a bunch of irrelevant, undisputed acts and label it misconduct," said attorney Eric J. Dubin, who represents Bakley's adult children. "There was no misconduct. The only argument was that they lost." brad.greenberg(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3634 |
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