LOS ANGELES, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- Actor Robert Blake's murder trial came to a screeching halt Thursday when the presiding judge agreed to release Blake's second lead attorney.
The attorney, Thomas Mesereau Jr., cited unspecified "irreconcilable differences" between him and his famous client, Court TV reported.
It was not clear what prompted Mesereau to drop the case. "I have no comment" he said several times to reporters outside the courthouse.
Blake said he and Bonny Lee Bakley's young daughter, Rosie, owe Mesereau their "lives," according to a print reporter quoted by Court TV. But Blake did not answer questions about his attorney's release. Observers noted no outward signs of acrimony between Blake and Mesereau during pretrial hearings.
Mesereau took the case in November 2002 after Blake's previous lawyer, Harland Braun, left because he disagreed with Blake's decision to grant a national TV interview from jail.
Because of Mesereau's release, Judge Darlene Schempp continued the case until Feb. 23. Jury selection was to have begun on Feb. 17.
Blake is accused of shooting and killing his 44-year-old wife, Bakley, outside a Studio City restaurant on May 4, 2001.
