Court TV Host: A stunt man who worked on the "Baretta" television series with Robert Blake is reported to be the key witness against him. We'll be talking about the Robert Blake case with another actor who worked with Blake, Tommy Bond, who played Butch in the Our Gang series and who has remained in touch with Blake.

Court TV Host: Our guest, actor and friend of Robert Blake, Tommy Bond, is here. Welcome, Mr. Bond.

Tommy Bond: Hello, how're you doing?

Question from: pumpkin: When was the last time you spoke with Mr. Blake?

Tommy Bond: The last time I spoke with Robert was back in May. When his wife was murdered, I talked to several radio stations in defense of him because I know how Bobby Blake really is, and as far as I'm concerned, there's no murder in his heart. It's true that he was emotionally disturbed -- always has been -- but he doesn't have murder in his heart. If he was going to do any damage to anything or anyone, it would be to himself. And this is what I told about 45 radio stations, plus MSNBC, plus CBS, at the time. I did get a call from New York, a radio station, that had his daughter on, and she called me from the radio station and she said, "Thank you, Tom, for standing up for my dad. God bless you." And her next words were, "Can I have your phone number?" And I said sure, and after we stopped talking, about five minutes later, I got a call from Robert Blake. And his words to me were: "Honest to God, Tom, I didn't do it." And I said, "I believe you, Bobby." He did say one more thing. He said: "They're after me." I don't know what he meant by "they're after me." And then I said, "You know, Bobby, I'm here for you. If you need any help, give me a call." And then he did call me about a week later, and wanted to know if I had a good attorney. And I said, yes I do, and he said, "I'll be in touch with you." He then called me about a week later, and said, "Thanks, anyway, Tom, but I found an attorney." And I said, "That's fine." Now, I haven't heard from Bobby since May when we had our conversation, but then this thing broke last week, where they arrested him, and we were watching what was going on on the whole deal, and I was actually flabbergasted, at what the then police chief Parks was saying. He said, he's guilty and that's the end of the story. I said to myself, where are we living? In the United States of America where you're innocent until proven guilty, or Nazi Germany with the Gestapo calling?

Question from: pumpkin: Have you guys been close friends for the past 20 years?

Tommy Bond: Not really. Bobby and I have been to various reunions of Our Gang. We've been to like three or four reunions over the past 15 years or so. We were at one in Palm Springs, California. I have a dear friend named David Gest, who is married to Liza Minelli, and he's the gentleman in charge of the American Film Festival, where we sat with Bobby and his son and all the rest of the kids in Our Gang. And my wife Pollly was very impressed with his behavior because she said to me, here is a very moral man. And I asked, how do you figure that? And she said, he asked me whether I had seen the movie "The Color Purple." And she said no she hadn't. And Bobby said, "Well, it's a terrible picture. They don't make good, decent, moral pictures nowadays." And that impressed my wife, because she said, "This guy is a very moral man." And he has a very, very fine son and daughter from his previous marriage.

Question from: aileen: What do you mean by saying he has always been emotionally disturbed??

Tommy Bond: Number one, even when he was a child actor, I had heard, this is hearsay, but I had heard, that his family had mistreated him. And the reason that MGM hired him for Our Gang was that they could look at him and say, cry, and he'd cry, and not many kids can do that unless they really want to cry. The only other things, and again these things are hearsay, is that he could be pretty rough on directors, because he knew exactly the way he wanted to play the part. And he did so.

Question from: dee: Mr. Bond, do you personally know these stunt men that have come forward?

Tommy Bond: No. They belong to the Stuntmen's Association, and knowing the association -- we had several of them working for us in a movie -- they weren't very reliable, and we heard rough stories about them. And they all belong to this one organization.

Question from: ctv_warhorse2: Are you going to attend any of the trial?

Tommy Bond: If they'll let me. And I'd be happy to be a witness, if they'll let me. And of course, that depends on Mr. Harlan Braun, whom I saw at the arraignment on TV. But I noticed that this defense attorney is a very, very intelligent man, and he's very cool and he's very knowledgeable, and I think that personally I'd like to have an attorney like him. And if Mr. Braun wants to call me as a character witness, I'd be happy to do it because I believe in truth. And the truth shall set you free.

Question from: pumpkin: Do you have any idea who would commit such a crime and why?

Tommy Bond: No, except for one thing: the lady that he married had a very, very bad reputation. Her whole family -- he father was in the penitentiary, and she had a reputation for going after stars. For instance, Marlon Brando's son. And God knows how many others. I heard also that she did some pretty nasty, pornography type things on the Internet. To go one step further, Bobby is an honorable man. He married her because he realized that that was his baby. She had the baby, and the baby is now with Bobby's daughter who is a lovely, lovely lady. It would drive me crazy to see her family get a hold of that baby. Because Bobby loves that baby.

Question from: traveller: How does one explain the gun used in the murder and it being traced back to Blake?

Tommy Bond: In May, I traced it out, and they said that she had been killed not by Robert Blake's gun, because it was the wrong caliber, and they checked him for gunshot burns and found none. This was back in May. And also, the question of why did he park so far away from the Italian restaurant, like three blocks? Well, if you know that Italian restaurant, it's very popular, and you can't get a parking space closer than three blocks when they're very busy. And the reason Bobby carried a gun was that he wanted protection, and he has always lived his life very conservatively and taking care of himself. Many people in L.A. carry guns, especially celebrities, for protection.

Question from: kapsekom: Tommy, could you tell us one of your favorite memories from the set of "Our Gang?"

Tommy Bond: Bobby was new on the job. He was a new kid, really cute, great facial expressions, and like I told you before, he could cry at the drop of a hat and he did in the first Our Gang. When I left the gang in 1940, Bobbie took over the gang with Froggie and a bunch of new kids, and the gang then lasted until 1944. And I left the gang because I was too old.

Question from: avalanchea: Tommy, have you seen the interview of Robert when he stated that his father treated him like a dog and that his mother was worse?

Tommy Bond: No, but I can believe it. Especially when he was a young kid. I know he made a statement to me, when he was in "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" that Bogart treated him mean. That hurts a kid's psyche. Fortunately, I didn't have that happen to me, and I played with some big stars, like Ray Bolger, Charles Laughton, Clark Gable.

Question from: LynnyB: How would you feel if you found out that Robert was guilty of this murder? We all know what a piece of work Bonny Lee was.

Tommy Bond: Well, if he was guilty, I feel sorry for him and I would pray for his soul, and hope that he repents before the day.

Court TV Host: Any closing thoughts?

Tommy Bond: In conclusion, I would say that I would do the same thing with any other members of the rascals that are still alive.

Court TV Host: Thanks for being our guest.