Robert Durst Trial: Defense Claims 'Evidence Is Lacking' In Opening Statement
INGLEWOOD (CBSLA) — Robert Durst's lead attorney Wednesday told jurors that the millionaire real estate scion had no motive and nothing to gain from the shooting death of his longtime friend Susan Berman more than two decades ago.
"Bob Durst did not kill Susan Berman, and he does not know who did," defense attorney Dick DeGuerin said, reiterating his opening statement from March 2020. "The evidence is lacking. The evidence isn't there."
Due to the 14-month delay in the case caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Superior Court Judge Mark Windham agreed to let both the prosecution and defense address jurors again about the case before testimony resumes.
Durst, 78, has been charged with the December 2000 killing of Berman, a writer with whom he had been close friends with for years after the two met at the University of California Los Angeles. The charge includes a special circumstance allegation that she was killed because she was a witness to a crime.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said in his opening statement that the evidence would show that Durst shot and killed the 55-year-old woman because he feared she would tell the authorities that he killed his first wife, Kathie, in 1982.
"He didn't kill her because he disliked her," Lewin said. "He killed her out of survival."
Durst's attorney contended that Durst went over to Berman's Benedict Canyon home, found his close friend dead and "freaked out," before sending a note to the Beverly Hills Police Department about her body.
"Bob doesn't make what we would consider good decisions," DeGuerin said. "Bob Durst had no motive and nothing to gain by the death of Susan Berman."
On Monday, Windham rejected an emergency motion from the defense seeking to postpone the trial indefinitely based on what attorneys called "life-threatening" health issues.
Durst has been behind bars since March 14, 2015, when he was taken into custody in a New Orleans hotel room hours before the final episode of the HBO series, "The Jinx."
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)