Robert Durst won't be extradited to California on murder charges
Robert Durst won't be extradited to California on murder charges, Robert Durst will not be sent to California to face first-degree murder charges until prosecutors in Louisiana have exhausted their own case against him, stemming from the recovery of a gun and a marijuana stash from his hotel room following his arrest in New Orleans on 14 March.
The Los Angeles district attorney’s office confirmed to the Guardian on Tuesday that it will not be seeking Durst’s immediate extradition in connection with the murder of his friend Susan Berman, who was shot in the back of the head at her Hollywood Hills home in 2000.
Instead, Durst is expected to stand trial first in New Orleans and could, if convicted, face decades in prison as a felon caught in possession of a firearm – effectively a life sentence for the 71-year-old. One New Orleans defence attorney told the Guardian he expects Durst’s formal indictment could come as soon as Wednesday evening, ahead of a planned Thursday preliminary hearing.
“Mr Durst is in Louisiana and will be there until they complete that case,” a Los Angeles district attorney’s spokesperson said. “We are waiting for whatever happens in Louisiana to take its course.”
Related: Did Robert Durst's nemesis ignore clues before following his trail to California?
The Berman killing was at the centre of the television documentary series The Jinx, the finale of which featured an apparent confession from Durst and aired less than 24 hours after he was arrested by the FBI. He had gone to New Orleans from his principal residence in Houston days earlier and checked into a hotel in the French Quarter under an alias.
Lawyers in both Louisiana and California said Los Angeles had nothing to lose by waiting, because there is no time limit on bringing a murder case, and investigators who have been looking into Berman’s killing may need more time to shore up their evidence. The delay would also give law enforcement agents around the country time to look more deeply into a slew of other unsolved cases in which Durst is a possible suspect, including the 1971 disappearance of a young woman in Vermont.
Durst, who is 71 and has looked frail in court appearances, is in custody at a psychiatric jail facility 70 miles from New Orleans and under observation as a suicide risk.
As a felon – he was previously convicted of jumping bail and evidence tampering following his arrest in Texas on another murder charge in 2001 – possession of a firearm is both illegal and potentially very serious for Durst. Several criminal lawyers told the Guardian he could face decades in prison if convicted, although the exact length of any sentence would depend in part on how exactly the judge or judges choose to view his “habitual offender” status.
He faces a second charge of possession of a firearm in association with a controlled substance.
Currently, Durst is being processed in the Louisiana state court system but could face near-identical charges in federal court, providing him and his lawyers with even less wiggle room. His legal team has said repeatedly they want to get him to California as quickly as possible.
“At his age, given the conditions in Louisiana prisons and his health, even 10 years is a death sentence,” said Craig Mordock, a former New Orleans prosecutor now working as a criminal defence lawyer who has followed the Durst case closely.
Related: What is Robert Durst still hiding?
“There’s a prosecution theory in cases like this: just get the guy on something. And I do think they love the publicity here in New Orleans.”
Durst has been under law enforcement scrutiny since the disappearance of his first wife, Kathie, from their suburban New York home in 1982. But he has escaped serious punishment up to now; in 2001 he was acquitted of the murder of a 71-year-old man in Galveston, Texas, whom he admitted shooting and dismembering with a bowsaw. He said he acted in self-defence.
Mordock told the Guardian he expected prosecutors to file an indictment shortly before Thursday’s scheduled preliminary hearing, because it would trigger a new set of procedures and further limit the defence’s room to manoeuvre.
Durst is being held without bail as investigators pore over materials, including his computer files, seized from his Houston home days after his arrest. The same lawyer who secured his acquittal in Galveston, Dick DeGuerin, is representing him now.
The Los Angeles district attorney’s office confirmed to the Guardian on Tuesday that it will not be seeking Durst’s immediate extradition in connection with the murder of his friend Susan Berman, who was shot in the back of the head at her Hollywood Hills home in 2000.
Instead, Durst is expected to stand trial first in New Orleans and could, if convicted, face decades in prison as a felon caught in possession of a firearm – effectively a life sentence for the 71-year-old. One New Orleans defence attorney told the Guardian he expects Durst’s formal indictment could come as soon as Wednesday evening, ahead of a planned Thursday preliminary hearing.
“Mr Durst is in Louisiana and will be there until they complete that case,” a Los Angeles district attorney’s spokesperson said. “We are waiting for whatever happens in Louisiana to take its course.”
Related: Did Robert Durst's nemesis ignore clues before following his trail to California?
The Berman killing was at the centre of the television documentary series The Jinx, the finale of which featured an apparent confession from Durst and aired less than 24 hours after he was arrested by the FBI. He had gone to New Orleans from his principal residence in Houston days earlier and checked into a hotel in the French Quarter under an alias.
Lawyers in both Louisiana and California said Los Angeles had nothing to lose by waiting, because there is no time limit on bringing a murder case, and investigators who have been looking into Berman’s killing may need more time to shore up their evidence. The delay would also give law enforcement agents around the country time to look more deeply into a slew of other unsolved cases in which Durst is a possible suspect, including the 1971 disappearance of a young woman in Vermont.
Durst, who is 71 and has looked frail in court appearances, is in custody at a psychiatric jail facility 70 miles from New Orleans and under observation as a suicide risk.
As a felon – he was previously convicted of jumping bail and evidence tampering following his arrest in Texas on another murder charge in 2001 – possession of a firearm is both illegal and potentially very serious for Durst. Several criminal lawyers told the Guardian he could face decades in prison if convicted, although the exact length of any sentence would depend in part on how exactly the judge or judges choose to view his “habitual offender” status.
He faces a second charge of possession of a firearm in association with a controlled substance.
Currently, Durst is being processed in the Louisiana state court system but could face near-identical charges in federal court, providing him and his lawyers with even less wiggle room. His legal team has said repeatedly they want to get him to California as quickly as possible.
“At his age, given the conditions in Louisiana prisons and his health, even 10 years is a death sentence,” said Craig Mordock, a former New Orleans prosecutor now working as a criminal defence lawyer who has followed the Durst case closely.
Related: What is Robert Durst still hiding?
“There’s a prosecution theory in cases like this: just get the guy on something. And I do think they love the publicity here in New Orleans.”
Durst has been under law enforcement scrutiny since the disappearance of his first wife, Kathie, from their suburban New York home in 1982. But he has escaped serious punishment up to now; in 2001 he was acquitted of the murder of a 71-year-old man in Galveston, Texas, whom he admitted shooting and dismembering with a bowsaw. He said he acted in self-defence.
Mordock told the Guardian he expected prosecutors to file an indictment shortly before Thursday’s scheduled preliminary hearing, because it would trigger a new set of procedures and further limit the defence’s room to manoeuvre.
Durst is being held without bail as investigators pore over materials, including his computer files, seized from his Houston home days after his arrest. The same lawyer who secured his acquittal in Galveston, Dick DeGuerin, is representing him now.