Flap Over Robert Blake Witness

Robert Blake's prosecutors filed a motion Wednesday opposing a defense bid to take sworn testimony from a woman who the defense contends would implicate Marlon Brando's son in the killing of Blake's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

Deputy District Attorney Greg Dohi said the proposed witness, Dianne Mattson, was interviewed by police as recently as last week and "she made no mention of Christian Brando's involvement in any plot to kill Bakley."

Dohi said in a sworn declaration that Mattson also made no mention of Brando's involvement with a stuntman named "Duffy." A key prosecution witness is former stuntman Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton.

According to the defense, Mattson told of overhearing a phone conversation between Brando and someone named "Duffy" in which Brando suggested Bakley should be shot in the head. The defense says Mattson realized "Duffy" was Hambleton when she heard his voice on a videotape of his preliminary hearing testimony.

Contrary to a defense motion which described Mattson as Brando's hired caretaker or "adult baby sitter," police said she described herself as his "significant other."

Dohi said Brando was interviewed about his relationship with the woman and "Mr. Brando said that he had ended a romantic relationship with Ms. Mattson."

Dohi and Deputy District Attorney Pat Dixon said there is no reason to conduct a "conditional examination" of Mattson before the trial. They said there is no evidence that she is in fear of Brando, as the defense claimed, and suggested testimony from Mattson and her son, would probably be inadmissible at the trial.

"The proffered testimony is not only irrelevant; it constitutes inadmissible hearsay," their motion said. " ... The limited relevance of the Mattsons' testimony makes defendant's application for extraordinary procedures even less compelling."

Mattson's attorney, Brian Oxman, said she will be attending a hearing Thursday at which Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp will hear arguments on the defense request.

He said he stands by his assertion that Mattson fears Brando and will not willingly return to Los Angeles from her home in Washington state if she is asked to testify at the trial.

"Every time I mention his name, she starts crying," he said.

Blake's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr., said, "We're still investigating. We have drawn no conclusions. But we would like to put her under oath and question her."

Of the prosecution motion, he said, "What are they afraid of? Why don't they want us to question her?"

Blake's wife was shot to death on May 4, 2001, as she sat in a car outside a restaurant where she and her husband had dined.

Blake claims he found his wife shot after he went back into the restaurant to retrieve a handgun he carried for protection and had accidentally left behind during dinner.

Prosecutors say he shot his wife and charged him with murder, solicitation of murder, conspiracy and lying in wait. They have decided not to seek the death penalty.

Blake, the 69-year-old star of the old "Baretta" TV series, was freed on $1.5 million bail in mid-March.

Blake says he met Bakley in a jazz club and they began having casual sex. He married her in late 2000 after tests determined he was the father of a baby girl she'd had. Bakley at first claimed the child was fathered by Brando.

Eventually, authorities allege, Blake decided he wanted to keep the baby and get rid of his wife. A retired police detective and two former stuntmen testified at the preliminary hearing that Blake asked others to kill her.

Blake's bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, is charged with conspiracy.