Limits Sought on Work by Blake’s Investigator

Prosecutors want a judge to limit the work done by an investigator for Robert Blake’s defense team because they say he is telling potential witnesses that he does not believe the actor killed his wife.

In court documents filed earlier this week, prosecutors say that William C. Jordan, whom they describe as a potential prosecution witness, may be overstepping his bounds.

Jordan has interviewed or tried to interview two key prosecution witnesses -- former stuntman Gary McLarty and private investigator William Welch, prosecutors said.

During his interview with Welch, Jordan said: “I would stake my life that Blake didn’t do this [murder],” according to prosecutors.

Blake and Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, were married a few months before she was shot to death near a Studio City restaurant May 4, 2001.

Blake, 68, is charged with murder, two counts of soliciting murder and conspiracy. He has been held without bail in Men’s Central Jail since his April 18 arrest in Hidden Hills.

In their motion, Deputy Dist. Attys. Patrick R. Dixon and Gregory A. Dohi suggest that Blake’s legal team should be ordered to rely on investigators other than Jordan to interview prosecution witnesses. Jordan’s interviews, they say, “might taint the recollections of key witnesses and that they, in turn, might taint his recollections.”

Blake’s attorney, Harland W. Braun, said Thursday that Jordan is working part-time for Blake’s defense team but declined to specify his role in the investigation, saying: “I don’t want to get into our strategy.”

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lloyd M. Nash denied a prosecution motion in May to stop Jordan from working for Blake.

Nash is expected to consider the latest motion and set a date for a preliminary hearing in the murder case Tuesday.

In a related matter, the state Supreme Court on Tuesday asked prosecutors to respond to Blake’s appeal for a bail hearing.

Nash has repeatedly denied bail, saying that he wants to hear evidence at the preliminary hearing before making a decision. The 2nd District Court of Appeal upheld that decision last month and Blake’s attorneys filed a writ with the Supreme Court.