VAN NUYS, Calif. � A reporter who accompanied LAPD detectives during their investigation into Bonny Lee Bakley's murder told jurors Wednesday that actor Robert Blake was a key suspect from the start.

During intense cross-examination, Blake's attorney pressed author Miles Corwin for details about the murder investigation, which Corwin described in his 2004 book "Homicide Special."

"Within hours of the murder, the detectives expressed the opinion in your presence that Mr. Blake had killed Miss Bakley?" defense lawyer Gerald Schwartzbach asked.

"Yes, that he was a key suspect. But to me, that just seems to be standard detective reaction — that when a woman is murdered, her husband is usually a suspect," Corwin testified.

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"Was it standard detective reaction to say that a suspect is 'full of shit?'" Schwartzbach shot back, quoting a passage from Corwin's book in which an LAPD detective used the phrase to characterize Blake's answers during a police interview hours after his wife's murder on May 4, 2001.

Corwin, a former L.A. Times reporter, signed a ride-along agreement with the LAPD, which gave him extensive access to the Robbery Homicide division. The Bakley murder investigation was the last case among the half dozen he covered in "Homicide Special: A Year with LAPD's Elite Detective Unit."

"There were no provisos. I basically could write what I wanted to write," Corwin said.

The author was present at the crime scene, a search of Blake's home, strategy meetings with detectives, and interviews with witnesses.

He testified that he did not touch any evidence or ask questions, but acted only as an observer. Corwin's attorney sat between the defense and prosecution tables during the nearly four hours of testimony, but did not interrupt the proceedings.

The journalist appeared credible on the stand, yet clearly uncomfortable having to answer, not ask, the questions. He shifted in his seat, blinked frequently, and stammered at times when asked about events that happened almost four years ago.

"So basically, you were just trying to be a fly on the wall?" prosecutor Shellie Samuels asked.

"Yes," Corwin said.

"And here you are sitting in court. Didn't work so well, did it?" Samuels joked.

The author smiled and nodded, but did not respond. Laughter was heard around the courtroom.

Writer's influence

Schwartzbach, who was not as cordial as Samuels, began his cross-examination by projecting an eye-opening cover shot of Playboy magazine on the screen.

The February 2004 issue, featuring a scantily clad actress, also boasted a top headline that read, "Exclusive: Busting Robert Blake. Inside the Case that Jailed a Star."

The issue featured excerpts of "Homicide Special," but Corwin testified that he did not receive any money from Playboy.

"But the more books that are sold, the greater attention you get as a writer. And if your professional career is advanced your financial potential is also advanced?" Schwartzbach asked.

Corwin thought about it, and shrugged his shoulders as he answered, "Hopefully."

Corwin admitted that when police interviewed one witness, lead detective Ronald Ito introduced the author as one of Ito's "partners." When the witness requested identification, Ito clarified that Corwin was a writer.

"Whenever I was asked who I was, I identified myself as a writer," Corwin said. "Most of the time I didn't say anything or pay much attention to the introductions."

Schwartzbach previously has suggested that the author's presence during the Bakley murder investigation motivated detectives to lead the charge against their celebrity suspect at the expense of Blake's constitutional rights.

Last year, Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp ruled that Corwin's presence during the search of Blake's home was a violation of the actor's Fourth Amendment right against illegal search and seizure — but she did not grant a defense request to throw out the evidence, because Corwin did not touch or recover anything.

Rush to judgment?

Schwartzbach vigorously questioned Corwin about the detectives' behavior during the investigation and read quotes from the book in an attempt to portray detectives as rushing to build a case against Blake immediately after Bakley's death.

For instance, on the night of Bakley's murder, Blake was questioned by detectives with his attorney present. Corwin wrote in his book, "Ito is immediately suspicious. Why does Blake need an attorney?"

Corwin said he based the description on discussions with Ito and his own observations in the police station that evening.

In another passage, detectives in a June 2001 strategy meeting discuss using a pending misdemeanor weapons charge against stuntman Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton as "leverage" to "persuade him to talk" about Blake's alleged murder solicitation.

Corwin said he had no recollections about the investigation and had to refresh his memory by looking in the book, because he did not retain his research notes.

"You destroyed your notes, didn't you?" Schwartzbach asked.

"Yes," Corwin said. "I have literally hundreds and hundreds of steno pads. I don't have the room in my house to store them. It's my custom and practice to destroy my notes. That's just how I've always done it."

Schwartzbach projected a portion of Corwin's LAPD agreement that stated his "notes and other memorializations" could be subject to "subpoena and production in criminal and/or civil litigation."

Corwin testified that in his 20-plus years as a reporter, no one had ever asked to see his notes, and that he did not consider it an issue.

In fact, during redirect Corwin stated that no one from Blake's defense team ever asked to see his notes before he destroyed them in 2002.

Prosecutors say Blake, 71, shot 44-year-old Bakley to death on May 4, 2001, because he hated her and was obsessed with gaining custody of their infant daughter. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Blake denies any involvement in the shooting and claims he had stepped away briefly when Bakley was killed.

He is charged with one count of murder with the special circumstance of lying in wait, and two counts of soliciting two former stuntmen to kill Bakley.

He faces life in prison without parole if convicted.