Judge denies Blake bail

Prosecutors say Blake is a "flight risk"

US actor Robert Blake has been denied his application for bail as he awaits trial for the murder of his wife.

But the judge in the case has said he will hear the application again after hearing evidence in the case later this year.

Bonny Lee Bakley was found shot in her car

"I have a completely open mind with respect to bail," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nash. "But I want to hear the evidence."

Mr Blake, star of the 1970s series Baretta, denies charges of murder, soliciting his wife's murder, conspiracy and the special circumstance of lying in wait.

Press ahead

Bonny Lee Bakley was shot on 4 May 2001 in a car near Vitello's restaurant in Los Angeles, where the couple had dined.

His bodyguard Earle Caldwell has also been charged with conspiracy, but is free on $1m (£675,000) bail paid by Mr Blake.

Mr Blake portrayed a tough cop in Baretta

The judge has encouraged Mr Blake's solicitors to press ahead with a preliminary hearing so that the trial can begin soon afterwards.

But the solicitors have asked for that hearing to be postponed until November.

They said they are trying to deal with what former Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks called the largest investigation in his department's history.

'Risk'

Mr Blake's solicitor, Harland Braun, had urged the judge to free the Baretta star on the grounds that his client suffers from dyslexia and would have trouble assisting in his own defence from a jail cell.

Mr Braun also argued that prosecutors hoped to keep Blake behind bars as a tactical move, a claim that deputy district attorney Patrick Dixon has dismissed.

Mr Dixon said the actor represented a "flight risk", that he would disappear and refuse to stand trial, and should be denied bail.