M Gerald Schwartzbach

It was a moment that defense attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach had been working toward for months. As he began closing arguments in the Robert Blake murder trial, the judge asked the 60-year-old attorney to speak up so she and the court audience could hear. "I will try to keep my voice up," the bifocaled, bow-tied Schwartzbach told Judge Darlene E. Schempp. Then, turning to the seven men and five women in the jury box, he added, "But these are the folks who really" matter.

It was a moment that defense attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach had been working toward for months. As he began closing arguments in the Robert Blake murder trial, the judge asked the 60-year-old attorney to speak up so she and the court audience could hear. "I will try to keep my voice up," the bifocaled, bow-tied Schwartzbach told Judge Darlene E. Schempp. Then, turning to the seven men and five women in the jury box, he added, "But these are the folks who really" matter.

Robert Blake's lawyer asked a judge Wednesday to allow him to introduce evidence that someone else killed the actor's wife, possibly to curry favor with Marlon Brando's son. M. Gerald Schwartzbach, Blake's fourth lawyer in the case, laid out a new scenario in court papers that does not involve the actor, best-known for his role as "Baretta" on TV.

Robert Blake concocted a plot to gain custody of his infant daughter by kidnapping her from her mother, whom he is accused of killing, the actor's personal assistant testified Monday. Cody Blackwell told jurors that she was unwittingly drawn into the plan to grab Rosie, Blake's daughter with Bonny Lee Bakley. Under heavy cross-examination by defense attorney M.

Los Angeles police have recovered a computer belonging to actor Robert Blake's attorney and are holding two men in the burglary, the judge in Blake's murder case said Tuesday. The suspects -- Koi Burton, 18, and Michael Washington, 19, both of Los Angeles -- were arrested Monday. Police said the pair confessed to the break-in at M. Gerald Schwartzbach's apartment in Sherman Oaks on Dec. 2. The crime delayed opening statements for two weeks. They are now set for Monday.

Lawyers for Robert Blake and his slain wife's children agreed Wednesday to try to settle a 3-year-old wrongful-death suit against the actor. As a result, Blake will not -- at least for now -- be questioned under oath about the fatal shooting of Bonny Lee Bakley four years ago on a quiet residential street in Studio City. Blake, 71, was acquitted earlier this month of killing 44-year-old Bakley. He has said he spent $10 million on his legal defense in the criminal case and that he owes $1.

I am the attorney who represented Robert Blake in the criminal trial that resulted in his acquittal. I am writing in response to The Times' Nov. 19 article, "Blake Held Responsible for Slaying." The article contains an unfair statement: "The verdict by the Burbank jury [in the civil trial that concluded on Nov. 18] was a rebuff to a Van Nuys criminal jury, which acquitted Blake in March of murder charges." The verdict in the civil case was certainly not "a rebuff." Aside from the fact that the civil trial involved a lower burden of proof [a fact later noted in the article]

An appeals court Friday upheld a civil judgment holding actor Robert Blake responsible for his wife's death, but cut in half the $30 million he was ordered to pay her family. The 2nd District appellate court ruled Friday that Blake's attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach failed to show there had been a trial error in the wrongful-death suit. Schwartzbach had argued before the court in January that his client had not received a fair trial, citing juror misconduct and insufficient instruction given to the jury.

Jurors began deliberating Friday whether to end Robert Blake's "nightmare" as his lawyer asked, or to convict him of murdering his wife. Seven men and five women began sorting through testimony from more than 100 witnesses and dozens of exhibits, from phone records to restaurant receipts, introduced since Dec. 20, when Blake's trial began in a Van Nuys courtroom.

Wrapping up a third day of testimony, the lead police investigator in the Robert Blake murder case insisted that the Los Angeles Police Department investigation of the actor was professional and unbiased. Det. Ronald Y. Ito testified that police focused on Blake in the early stages of the case but also pursued other leads and suspects. To make the point, Deputy Dist. Atty.

Actor Robert Blake's lawyer said Friday that he might not be ready to begin the long-awaited celebrity murder trial in September as planned. M. Gerald Schwartzbach, who took over Blake's defense in March, said he and his client are both motivated to try the case this fall but that more preparation time might be needed. "Mr. Blake wants to see this case go to trial as soon as possible," the Mill Valley lawyer told a court hearing in Van Nuys. "He wants to be vindicated as soon as possible."