Judge rejects Blake verdict bid

Robert Blake has filed for bankruptcy

A judge has rejected TV actor Robert Blake's request for a new civil trial after a wrongful death decision over the shooting of his wife.

Blake was cleared of murder by a criminal court but was found responsible for the death in a civil case brought by his wife's family.

A jury awarded Bonny Lee Bakley's family $30m (£17m) in damages, although Blake has already filed for bankruptcy.

His lawyers contended there was misconduct in the jury's actions.

Among the claims was that one juror failed to disclose that her daughter was in prison for murder, while another consulted a Bible during deliberations.

Another had signed a sworn statement that he was pressurised into voting against Blake, who starred in the 1970s TV series Baretta.

Blake's lawyers also believed the trial should be declared void because the actor had already filed for bankruptcy before the verdict was given.

'No reason'

Last November, the jury in the civil action reached a 10-2 verdict that Blake was responsible for the death of Ms Bakley, who was shot in a car outside a restaurant where the pair had been dining.

Blake has always denied he had any role to play in her death, and a criminal jury acquitted him of any involvement the previous March, after a lengthy trial.

The Bakley family's lawyer, Eric Dublin, said he had statements from five of the jurors in the civil case who deny there was any misconduct during deliberations.

"The children of Bonny Lee Bakley found justice for their mother's killing, and no reason ever existed to disturb this jury's verdict," he said.