Prosecutor: Blake jurors were 'incredibly stupid'

Thursday, March 24, 2005 Posted: 10:54 AM EST (1554 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- District Attorney Steve Cooley says Robert Blake was "guilty as sin" and the jurors who acquitted him of murder were "incredibly stupid."

A jury last week found the former "Baretta" star not guilty in the 2001 slaying of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, who was shot in a car outside a restaurant where the couple had dined. (Blake acquitted)

Jurors acquitted Blake of one murder count as well as one count of solicitation of murder. They deadlocked on a second solicitation count, with the vote 11-1 in favor of a not-guilty verdict.

"Quite frankly, based on my review of the evidence, he is as guilty as sin. He is a miserable human being," Cooley said Wednesday.

Blake's attorney, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, said the district attorney's attack on the jurors was inappropriate and "small-minded."

Juror Chuck Safko said: "To hear him say we aren't a smart jury is sour grapes. They didn't have a good case. Their case was built around witnesses who weren't truthful."

My experience is that people are indeed incredibly stupid, especially people who can't get out of jury duty.

I like jury duty...

Maybe I'm a freak, but I enjoy watching the needlessly complicated workings of the judicial system. Keeps me on my toes.

I doubt the jurors were dumb enough to think he was innocent, but they probably thought to themselves, "That bitch deserved to die, and I hope she burns in hell." So they just ignored the evidence, and let the poor guy go.

Seriously, I bet the jurors thought, "Couldn't the prosecutors come up with better evidence than this?" So they acquitted.