ROBERT DURST PROSECUTOR SEEKS VIDEOTAPED TESTIMONY, CITING FEAR FOR WITNESSES

Prosecutors who charged New York real estate heir Robert Durst with the murder of his best friend in Los Angeles want to videotape testimony from witnesses they fear could die or be killed before trial.

Deputy District Attorney John Lewin said Wednesday that prosecutors fear for the safety of witnesses because Durst is accused of killing a witness in the 1982 disappearance of his wife.

Lawyers for Durst objected to taking conditional testimony and suggestions the 73-year-old Durst, who is using a wheelchair and in custody, is a threat to anyone.

Lewin says Durst is worth $100 million and is suspected of killing Susan Berman, who was allegedly killed in 2000, before she was expected to be interviewed by police about the suspected murder of Kathleen Durst in New York.

Pool

FILE: Los Angeles, 7 November 2016

Los Angeles, 7 Nov. 2016

1. Robert Durst enters courtroom in a wheel chair and is seated next to his lawyers

++Off Camera++

2. UPSOUND "We enter a plea of not guilty."

Judge: "Not guilty plea will be entered."

3. Various of judge

4. Tight of Los Angeles County prosecutor

5. Various Durst with attorney Dick De Guerin

6. Wide of judge

7. Tight De Guerin

8. SOUNDBITE Robert Durst, suspect:

"Your honor, I'm willing to waive my rights. I do want to say here and now though, I am not guilty. I did not kill Susan Berman."

Judge: "Thank you. And do you in fact waive those rights at this time?"

Durst: "Yes."

9. Various Durst

ROBERT DURST MURDER TRIAL MAY NOT RESUME UNTIL APRIL

The murder trial of New York real estate heir Robert Durst will not resume in late July as planned, and may stay on hold until April.

At a hearing Friday (17 JULY 2020) on the resumption of the case, which was put on pause four months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham said he would tell jurors they would not need to return until April 12, but is considering the possibility of a bench trial in which he and not a jury would decide Durst's guilt.

Such a trial, which Durst would have to consent to by waiving his right to a jury trial, would resume much sooner, with the crowd concerns brought on by jurors allayed.

Another hearing is scheduled for July 31, giving time for defense attorneys to confer with the 77-year-old Durst, who was did not take part in Friday's hearing.

Durst is on trial for the 2000 shooting death of his best friend Susan Berman.

Prosecutors allege Durst killed Berman because he feared she was going to tell New York police that she knew he killed his wife in 1982 and she helped him cover up the crime, prosecutors said.

Kathleen Durst has never been found, though she has been legally declared dead. Durst has never been charged with any crime related to her disappearance and has denied any role in her death.

The murder trial had been expected to take five months, but was delayed in mid-March after opening statements and just two days of testimony.

Durst's attorneys, who appeared Friday by phone, and Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, who was in the courtroom, agreed that a jury trial should not be resumed for several months.

“We cannot have a trial at this time with this jury,” Durst attorney David Chesnoff said in the hearing by phone from Las Vegas.

Durst's lawyers renewed their call for a mistrial, which Windham declined to grant.

Lewin said the trial could be successfully resumed after a long delay, and that the jury might be re-shown opening statements on video, and have witness testimony read back to them.

If the April resumption date holds it will mean a pause in the trial of over a year.

POOL

Los Angeles, 7 November 2016

1. Various shots Robert Durst enters courtroom in a wheel chair and is seated next to his lawyers

ASSOCIATED PRESS

New Orleans, Louisiana, 17 March 2015

2. STILL IMAGE: Robert Durst on back seat of police car

3. STILL IMAGE: Close-up of above

The District court judge in Robert Durst's 2003 Galveston, Texas trial says that while Durst appeared to act crazy at that trial, she believes, "he's able to plan the crimes and he's able to plan the cover-up of the crimes."

"He is perfectly sane, he's got issues, and he's got a dark side, but he knows what he's doing," Former Galveston County judge Susan Criss said. "He shows a level of cunning that is not something the insane person is capable of doing."

Criss presided over the 2003 trial where Durst faced murder charges for killing his neighbor, Morris Black. A jury acquitted Durst of murder charges in that trial, despite admitting that he used a paring knife, two saws and an ax to dismember the body. With time served, Durst walked free after one more year for bond jumping and evidence tampering

Criss, who is now an attorney, says she's convinced he killed Morris as well as two other people.

"I think he killed his first wife. His first wife Kathy McCormack (Durst), I think he killd Susan Berman, and of course, we all know he killed Morris Black," Criss said.

Durst was arrested in New Orleans over the weekend in the death of his friend Susan Berman, who was shot to death in Los Angeles in 2000. FBI agents arrested him without incident on Saturday at a Marriott hotel in New Orleans.

These consequences came the same weekend as the Sunday finale of an HBO documentary detailing his life of privilege and links to three deaths: his friend in Los Angeles, Susan Berman; his wife in New York, Kathleen Durst; and Morris Black, an elderly neighbor in Texas.

Yet Criss says she does not think the FBI coordinated its arrest with the filmmakers and instead says they may have arrested him in order to prevent him from fleeing as the documentary gained more attention.

AP TELEVISION

Webster, Texas - March 16, 2015

1. Susan Criss (left) speaking with a friend

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Criss, district court judge in Durst's 2003 trial and now an attorney (responding to question about Durst's behavior during the 2003 trial):

"During the first part of the trial, he was acting crazy. He was pretending to talk to imaginary people at the council table, he was grunting like a pig, trying to act crazy, when the media was around. At some point, he stopped doing that and started acting normal. He is perfectly sane, he's got issues, and he's got a dark side, but he knows what he's doing. He's able to plan the crimes and he's able to plan the cover-up of the crimes. He shows a level of cunning that is not something the insane person is capable of doing."

3. Susan Criss speaking with friend

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Criss, Former Galveston County Judge: (district court judge in Durst's 2003 trial for Morris Black's death)

"I think he killed his first wife. His first wife Kathy McCormick, I think he killd Susan Berman, and of course, we all know he killed Morris Black."

COURTROOM POOL

Galveston, Texas - September 2003

++VIDEO IS 4:3++

5. Various courtroom pool of Robert Durst at trial where he was ultimately acquitted of murder charges in the death of his neighbor, Morris Black.

AP TELEVISION

Webster, Texas - March 16, 2015

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Criss, Former Galveston County Judge:

"It's a very risky thing to coordinate a law enforcement investigation and entertainment. Law enforcement just doesn't do that."

COURTROOM POOL

Galveston, Texas - September 2003

++VIDEO IS 4:3++

7. Various courtroom pool of Robert Durst at trial where he was ultimately acquitted of murder charges in the death of his neighbor, Morris Black.

AP TELEVISION

Webster, Texas - March 16, 2015

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Criss, Former Galveston County Judge:

"But no one's going to hold off for a number of years so that a movie could be produced or documentary or series could be produced, that's ridiculous. But, what I do see is that in addition to the entire country watching this show and being fascinated by it, Bob Durst has been watching it, and he's been reading the media accounts and he's been reading the stories about the case being reopened and what's happening. People are starting to talk, it generates talk. Perhaps what they did was move on him to prevent him from running because of this show."

AP TELEVISION

New Orleans - 16 March 2015

9. Exteriors of Orleans Parish Prison where Durst may be held