LOS ANGELES, March 16 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles jury Wednesday found actor Robert Blake not guilty of his wife's murder.
The 71-year-old Blake was charged with one count of murder and two counts of solicitation of murder related to the May 2001 shooting death of Bonny Lee Bakley. He was found not guilty of murder and one solicitation count, but the jury deadlocked on the second solicitation count. However, CNN said the prosecution is unlikely to seek a new trial.
Bakley was shot while sitting in a car outside a Los Angeles restaurant. Prosecutors alleged Blake shot Bakley after attempts to pay two men to kill her failed.
The jury returned with the two not guilty verdicts after eight days of deliberations.
Blake, who appeared in several movies but is best known for his 1970s TV police series "Barretta," had faced a life prison sentence if he had been convicted.
