Blake Hires Second Lawyer

May 16 -- Robert Blake has hired another high-powered attorney, Barry Levin, to represent him following the May 4 murder of his wife, but Levin denied allegations that the actor is anticipating an eventual murder charge.

Levin, a former Los Angeles police officer who previously defended Erik Menendez — the man who was convicted, along with his brother, Lyle, of murdering their parents — says he believes Blake is innocent. The 67-year-old actor is also represented by extremely vocal lawyer Harland W. Braun.

"If I were in trouble, if I were the target, the focus, of a murder investigation, I would do everything in my power to defend myself," Levin told City News Service Tuesday.

Bakley was shot in Blake's black Dodge Stealth about a block and a half from a Studio City, Calif., Italian restaurant where the couple had eaten dinner. Blake told police he had left his wife in the car while he went back to retrieve a gun he'd forgotten at the restaurant. He claims he was carrying the weapon because Bakley was concerned that someone was after her.

Gary Busey Targeted?Meanwhile, Blake's other attorney issued a proclamation that Bakley had Oscar-nominated actor Gary Busey on a list of people she wanted to pursue.

Popular Reads

Iran live updates: Trump making 'final determination' on short-term deal

• 2 hours ago

Owner of residence dubbed the 'Trump House' dies after being beaten outside home

• May 27, 5:05 PM

50,000 under evacuation orders in Southern Calif. over chemical tank explosion threat

• May 24, 8:41 PM

Braun said that Bakley, 44, never reached Busey but wrote to his mother, who lives in another state, in a bid to get his address and phone number in the Los Angeles area. "She targeted Gary Busey," Braun told Reuters in an interview. "She had a list of people she was going to go after and his name was down for March 30, 2001."

A Los Angeles police spokesman refused to comment on evidence in the case and did not know if detectives had found Busey's name in Bakley's papers.

Braun's comments came one day after Garrett Zimmon, the commanding officer of Detective Services in the Los Angeles Police Department, criticized him for making constant comments to the media and for assaulting Bakley's character. "We must remember that Bonny Lee Bakley is not the one under investigation. She is the victim," Zimmon said. "We need to be sensitive to that."