Actor Robert Blake in police custody (Reuters)

Kudos go out to the LAPD, who finally learned from their past mistakes (can you say Menendez brothers, O.J. Simpson case and heaven only knows how many other cases they’ve pooched over the years). In a case that took them through more than 20 states and the better part of a year to come to a solid basis on which to form the arrest, if they have brain one left in their head, they will keep their cards extremely close to the vest, releasing to the public absolutely no more than they have to in order to get the conviction they need against Blake. If they can get Caldwell to flip on Blake in exchange for a 10-year sentence in medium or minimum-security, I say give Caldwell the deal. In fact, if Blake was indeed the triggerman as police suspect and Caldwell can prove that through truthful testimony (as polygraph examinations are inadmissible in court), then I say let Caldwell off with 10 years felony probation, a lifetime prohibition on weapons ownership, and even no jail time for Caldwell if that’s what it takes to get a conviction on Blake.

Do not get me wrong; I am not automatically convicting this man, nor am I advocating a lynch mob mentality here. Blake should have his day before 12 ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The trial judge however, should follow the example of the Yates trial in Houston and not the Simpson trial in Los Angeles and limit television coverage to opening and closing arguments as well as verdict and sentencing phases. The Simpson trial took several months; Andrea Yates had her trial done and over with in a matter of weeks. Blake can have the same if the people draw the right judge. Please, God – just don’t let it be Lance Ito.

Bonnie Lee Bakely (LA Times)

For those of you who think I am hanging Blake out to dry, keep in mind that I am by no means deifying Bonny Lee Bakley (left). From what I have been able to gather, she was a grifter – a con woman who went from place to place and getting knocked up by an actor who once had a hit television series – and a little money put away – had (for her anyway) to have been the equivalent of hitting the mother lode. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until after the baby was born and she proved it was his that she moved back to California and began (as I saw it) to look for ways to start sucking off his wallet. Did Bakley love Blake? I highly doubt it. She rarely spent time with her daughter Rose and seemed more concerned about her own needs than anyone else’s – including those of a little girl unable to take care of her own needs.

The Los Angeles Times reports, “Bakley had been convicted of identity fraud. Braun (Harland Braun – Blake’s attorney) gave investigators three trunks, four suitcases and several boxes containing copies of letters, videotapes and nude photographs of Bakley that she allegedly sent to lonely men--sometimes along with promises of sex--in exchange for cash, plane tickets and bus fare.”

Consequently, while her unsavory past is not a reason to justify her death or excuse the actions of whoever killed her, it is nonetheless a contributing factor as to what very well may have led to her death in the first place.

So with Robert Blake now behind bars, it is now the responsibility of the Los Angeles Police Department to work with the District Attorney’s Office to ensure they have a rock-solid case against Blake before going to trial. If Bakley’s family has any sense whatsoever, they will learn from the family of Ronald Goldman in what not to do and stay away from the camera, for if there was anything the Goldmans weren’t and that was dignified – plus the last thing the Bakley are going to want is Bonny’s life being “dug up” all over again as it were. She’s already died once as it were. I’m sure they don’t want to see her killed in the media a second or third time, and the mainstream media specializes in that kind of treatment – after all, if it bleeds, it leads.

Lastly, the media can learn a little responsibility and self-discipline and stick to the facts in the case and let the cards fall where they may.