VAN NUYS, Calif. (Court TV) — A judge dismissed conspiracy charges against actor Robert Blake and his bodyguard Friday but upheld a murder charge against the former "Baretta" star for the 2001 shooting of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley.

The bodyguard, Earle Caldwell, smiled as the decision was announced in response to dismissal motions filed by lawyers for him and Blake.

"A great weight has been lifted," Caldwell said following the hearing. "As far as what they wanted me to say, I wasn't going to lie." Prosecutors made no direct effort at plea bargaining, he said.

"I cannot find a strong suspicion," Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp said in issuing her ruling. "I think the evidence here is so speculative it carries very little weight. I simply don't find there is probable cause."

The key evidence against Caldwell was a written list that included such items as shovels, a sledge, duct tape, lye, pool acid and the notation: "Get blank gun ready." His attorneys had argued those were typical handyman items.

The judge also ordered Caldwell's $1 million bail lifted and returned.

The drama inside the courthouse was quickly overshadowed by an apparently unrelated shooting outside the courthouse, during which a gunman wounded a lawyer, but was quickly tackled by a bystander. The alleged gunman, William Stirler, was taken into police custody and the victim, 53-year-old Jerry Curry, was reported in stable condition at a local hospital.

Blake is scheduled to face trial Feb. 9 on charges of murdering Bakley, whom he married after tests showed he was the father of her daughter. After a two-week preliminary hearing, which ended in March, another judge found there was sufficient evidence to try Blake and Caldwell in the killing.

In upholding Blake's murder charge, Schemp said, "It appears there was probable cause to hold defendant Blake to answer."

She rejected an extensive argument by Blake's lawyer, Thomas Mesereau Jr., that there was insufficient evidence to link Blake to the crime and no evidence to support the charge of lying in wait.

The lying in wait claim alleges Blake left Bakley in a secluded area in a car where there was opportunity and time to kill her.

A new prosecutor in the case, Shellie Samuels, argued that Bakley was "a sitting duck."

"The defendant had a very strong motive. He called her the scum of the earth. He despised Bonny Lee Bakley," Samuels said. "His intent was to get the baby and get rid of Bonny."

Bakley was 44 when she was shot and killed on May 4, 2001, outside the Studio City restaurant where she and Blake had dined.

Mesereau argued that it was unbelievable that Blake would commit such a crime outside a restaurant where he was well known and in a neighborhood that was only a few blocks from his home.

Mesereau said there was no link between Blake and the murder weapon.

Bakley was killed on May 4, 2001. Blake was charged with murder a year later. Amended charges later alleged that Blake personally used a firearm to kill Bakley.

Associated Press and Court TV wire services contributed to this report.