Robert Durst’s twisted lawful saga hasn’t ended with his dying.
“There will be a posthumous acquittal,” his attorney, Chip Lewis, vowed to The Submit Monday, hrs following the 78-year-old convicted killer’s death.
A Los Angeles jury in Oct found Durst responsible of murdering his pal Susan Berman, a conviction that will close up becoming vacated because Durst died even though he was going by the appeals course of action, according to LA County Deputy District Attorney John Lewin.
In California and other states, a conviction less than attractiveness is vacated if the appellant dies since the larger court did not have a prospect to affirm the conviction.
On the other hand, Lewin pressured that acquiring Durst’s conviction vacated would not modify the actuality that jurors considered that Durst not only killed Berman in 2000, but also his wife Kathleen McCormack Durst in 1982 and neighbor Morris Black in 2001.
And he also pointed out that an acquittal isn’t probable in Durst’s case, considering that the authentic-estate scion just can’t be tried using yet again.
“To acquit means that a jury has identified that the prosecution did not set on sufficient proof to prove guilt past a affordable question. It is not the very same as a person getting identified harmless. In California, Durst dying doesn’t imply it’s an acquittal. It’s just that the conviction is vacated,” Lewin stated.
For Lewin, Durst’s demise presented a prospect to reflect on the three victims whose lives ended up slash quick.
“In the conclude, Bob Durst was absolutely unremorseful and unrepentant,” Lewin explained. “He refused to just take any accountability for his steps, to the stage of repeatedly and continually perjuring himself all through his testimony in trial to a level that I really don’t consider anybody’s at any time viewed. For all these explanations, my sympathies are with the victims and family members, and I’m gratified that we had been able to have a jury hear to the proof. We experienced five months of trial and they built the dedication that he was dependable for the deaths of 3 individuals.”
Laurie Levenson, legal analyst and felony law professor at Loyola Regulation School, said the California Court docket of Charm will ship the situation again to the reduced court with a rule to “abate the proceedings,” and the attraction will no longer move forward.
“The conviction will be vacated, but he was clearly found guilty,” Levenson advised the Submit. “His responsible conviction doesn’t stand since he wasn’t presented a opportunity to end his enchantment, but there is no potential for a posthumous acquittal.”
Robert Abrams, lawyer for the household of Durst’s wife Kathie, said that the investigation into “those who assisted him go over up her murder” would keep on, and an update would be delivered on Jan. 31, which happens to be the 40th anniversary of Kathie’s murder.
But Lewin stated he thinks Durst was the only individual who was accountable for the 3 fatalities.
“I worked on this situation for eight years,” Lewin stated. “There is no credible proof whatsoever that any individual other than Bob Durst was accountable for the killings of Kathie, Susan and Morris. Interval.”