Robert Blake shops for new defense attorney in Newport

Deepa Bharath

Jennifer Keller has a nickname around the Orange County district

attorney’s office.

Liberty Valance.

The 49-year-old criminal defense attorney hired Tuesday as one of

the defense attorneys for actor Robert Blake is not a notorious

gunfighter, as Valance was. But she is as invincible, said Kelly Ann

MacEachern, Orange County Deputy district attorney and Superior Court

judge-elect.

MacEachern has faced Keller in the courtroom several times in her

years as a prosecutor.

“She was always a worthy opponent,” MacEachern said. “You always

work a little harder when you’re up against her.”

Now Keller, a 20-year Corona del Mar resident, is diving into a

high-profile case defending Blake, who was charged in April with

fatally shooting his 44-year-old wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, as she sat

in his car near a Studio City restaurant.

Blake, best known as TV’s “Beretta,” has pleaded not guilty to

charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of

soliciting murder.

Keller declined to go into the specifics of the case Wednesday,

but said she has merely scratched the surface, starting to read pages

and pages of material relating to the case.

Keller, who has had her practice in Irvine since 1992, said she

rarely takes cases outside of Orange County.

“I tend not to leave the county unless it’s an exceptional case

and unless there are very good reasons to do so,” she said.

Thomas Mesereau Jr., who will team with Keller on the case, is her

law school buddy, she said.

During her career, Keller has been involved in more than 150

felony and misdemeanor cases, including those involving drug

offenses, white collar crime, sex crimes and murder. Keller is

particularly proud of her work in a case in which she saved a man

from the death penalty.

That 1988 case involved a security guard who was accused of raping

and killing a woman. He was convicted of the crime, but Keller was

able to convince the jury not to sentence the man to death.

Keller also defended 18-year-old Jason Rausch, who was involved in

a 1997 crash on Irvine Avenue that killed Newport Beach teenager

Donny Bridgman. Two other teens, cheerleader Amanda Arthur and Daniel

Townsend, suffered lasting brain damage from their injuries.

Rausch was ultimately sentenced to three years of probation,

rather than jail time, for Bridgman’s death.

Keller signed on as campaign treasurer for MacEachern, who won the

judge race against Donny Bridgman’s mother, Vicki Bridgman.

Keller said she accepts clients she believes in.

“People who’re quick to assume others are guilty need to stand in

the accused person’s shoes for a while,” she said. “I want to make

sure Mr. Blake gets justice. I want to make sure he is treated

fairly.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.