Printer Friendly
The Free Library
14,792,997 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Brando's son invokes fifth in Blake civil trial.


Christian Brando Christian Brando (born 11 May, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is the eldest of the offspring of the late actor Marlon Brando. He was convicted of the voluntary manslaughter of his half-sister Cheyenne's boyfriend on 16 May 1990 at Marlon Brando's residence on Mulholland , the son of actor Marlon Brando Marlon Brando, Jr. (April 3 1924 – July 1 2004) was an Academy Award-winning American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors of all time. , took the witness stand Tuesday in Robert Blake's civil trial but declined to answer key questions to protect himself from possible self-incrimination.

Brando's lawyer, Bruce Margolin, stood next to him at the witness box and repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment on behalf of his client.

Brando, 46, has been a key figure in the case surrounding the murder of Blake's wife, 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. Blake's lawyers have pointed at him as a possible suspect in the slaying. Brando has not been arrested or charged.

On the witness stand, Brando answered only a few questions, giving his name and birth date and identifying his voice on two tape recordings of phone conversations with Bakley.

"At any time did you meet an individual named Bonny Bakley?" Blake attorney Peter Ezzell asked.

"Yes," said Brando, who then invoked the Fifth Amendment when asked for more details of their relationship.

"Did you become aware that Bonny Bakley had taped her conversations with you?" Ezzell asked.

"No," Brando said.

The attorney then played brief snippets from the tapes, and Brando said it was his voice along with Bakley's. He refused to answer a question about his comment on the tape telling Bakley: "You're lucky somebody ain't out there to put a bullet in your head."

He also declined to answer questions about whether he hired someone to kill Bakley, if she told him she feared Blake was going to kill her, or if she offered Brando sex with her 17-year old daughter.

Superior Court Judge David M. Schacter allowed Brando to invoke To activate a program, routine, function or process.  the Fifth Amendment on certain questions but not on others. He was ordered to respond to questions about whether he ever lived in the state of Washington and if he had ever visited a certain street in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. .

Brando did testify that he had served five years in prison for manslaughter manslaughter, homicide committed without justification or excuse but distinguished from murder by the absence of the element of malice aforethought. Modern criminal statutes usually divide it into degrees, the most common distinction being between voluntary and  in the death of his sister's boyfriend, Dag Dag(h)da

great god of Celts; father of Danu. [Celtic Myth.: Parrinder, 68; Jobes, 405]

See : Fatherhood


Dag

(h)da god of abundance, war, healing. [Celtic Myth.
 Drollet.

As he left the courthouse, Brando was asked whether he had any idea who may have killed Bakley. He shrugged smiled and said, "probably sitting up in the room there," an apparent reference to the courtroom.

Margolin, his lawyer, said Brando invoked Fifth Amendment protection because "he didn't want to take part in this charade charade (shərād`), verbal, written, or acted representation of a word, its syllables, or a number of words. The object is to guess the idea being conveyed. Winthrop M.  that somehow implies he's involved in this matter.... He would prefer to have nothing to do with this matter."

Blake is being sued for wrongful death The taking of the life of an individual resulting from the willful or negligent act of another person or persons.

If a person is killed because of the wrongful conduct of a person or persons, the decedent's heirs and other beneficiaries may file a wrongful death action
 by the family of Bakley. The star of the old "Baretta" TV show was found not guilty of murder in a criminal trial that ended earlier this year.

Blake did not testify during that trial but spent seven days on the witness stand in the civil case discussing his relationship with Bakley and other matters.

After heating the limited testimony from Brando, jurors in the civil trial left on a bus trip to Vitello's restaurant, where Blake and his wife dined the night she was shot to death.

Later in day, Brando returned to the witness stand. Eric Dubin, the lawyer for Bakley's family, tried to get him to repeat the remark made outside court but Brando again invoked the Fifth Amendment and the judge did not force him to answer.

Brando left the courtroom after Blake's lawyer concluded playing tape recordings of his conversations with Bakley.

The tapes, which have been played publicly before, include discussions in which Brando expresses exasperation Exasperation
See also Frustration, Futility.

Carter, Sergeant

Marine corps sergeant exasperated by Gomer’s ceaseless stupidity. [TV: “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
 with Bakley, who was claiming at one point that the baby she was carrying was fathered by Brando.

The child actually belonged to Blake.
COPYRIGHT 2005 CBJ, L.P.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2005, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:Christian Brando, Robert Blake
Comment:Brando's son invokes fifth in Blake civil trial.(Christian Brando, Robert Blake)
Author:Deutsch, Linda
Publication:Los Angeles Business Journal
Geographic Code:1U9CA
Date:Oct 26, 2005
Words:593
Previous Article:Longtime congressman was champion of minority rights: Edward R. Roybal 1916-2005.(Obituary)
Next Article:Characters badger tourists on Hollywood Boulevard.
Topics:



Related Articles
LAWYER LINKS SLAYING TO PAST.(News)
`BARETTA'S' WIFE SLAIN ACTOR BLAKE RETURNS TO CAR TO FIND HER SHOT.(News)
STAR GRAZING SLAYING WHETS PUBLIC'S APPETITE.(News)
CHRISTIAN BRANDO FREED FROM PRISON.(News)
2 STUNTMEN NAMED WITNESSES VS. BLAKE.(News)
NO DEATH PENALTY FOR BLAKE D.A. TO SEEK LIFE TERM FOR ACTOR IN WIFE'S SLAYING.(News)
BLAKE ARRESTED BODYGUARD ALSO HELD IN MAY 2001 SLAYING OF ACTOR'S WIFE.(News)
2002 LOCAL NEWS: UNSCRIPTED? BLAKE MURDER CASE LACKS AN ENDING.(News)(Review)
BRIEFLY BLAKE JUDGE DENIES REQUEST.(News)
BLAKE FOUND LIABLE IN WIFE'S SLAYING JUST LIKE O.J. ACTOR HIT WITH $30 MILLION IN DAMAGES MONTHS AFTER ACQUITTAL.(News)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2010 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles