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Judge delays Blake bail decision

Blake pleaded not guilty at his April 21 arraignment.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A judge Tuesday delayed until next week a decision on whether actor Robert Blake should be released on bail while awaiting trial on charges he murdered his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nash set a June 27 hearing date on Blake's bail request. Nash also scheduled a preliminary hearing for the same day.

Blake's murder charge contains a special circumstance of "lying in wait," which prosecutors say makes him ineligible under California law for bail until after his preliminary hearing, at which time a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial. They also argue that Blake is a flight risk and a danger to the community.

At Tuesday's hearing, defense attorney Harland Braun said prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence to establish Blake was lying in wait. He said California's "lying in wait" statute is unconstitutionally vague and confusing.

Braun accused prosecutors of stretching the law solely to keep Blake behind bars and said the actor was neither a flight risk nor dangerous.

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Braun has said it could be up to six months before Blake's preliminary hearing is held because of the voluminous evidence in the case, and he argued in court papers that Blake is entitled to bail in the meantime.

Bakley, 44, was found shot in the head in a car outside a Los Angeles restaurant in Studio City on May 4, 2001. Blake, 68, the star of the 1970s television series "Baretta," has been in jail since his arrest April 18.

Prosecutors Patrick Dixon and Gregory Dohi argued Monday that Blake should be denied bail because he is a flight risk and had been planning an ambush murder for months.

Prosecutors have said they can prove Blake unsuccessfully tried to find a hit man to kill her before finally deciding to shoot her himself. Blake has steadfastly denied killing Bakley.

Nash said Tuesday he was satisfied that Earle Caldwell, Blake's former bodyguard, co-defendant and alleged accomplice, understood the potential conflicts of interest in being represented by an attorney hired by Blake.

An independent attorney appointed by Nash to counsel Caldwell about the potential conflicts reported back to the court Tuesday that Caldwell understood but still wanted Arna Zlotnick as his lawyer.

The judge said he would allow Zlotnick to continue to represent Caldwell, but warned her that "if there's any conflict of interest down the line, that's been waived by your client."

Caldwell is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and has been released on $1 million bail, which was posted by Blake.