Catching Up With Robert Durst
I told you about my friend Judge Susan Criss, who was the judge in the Galveston trial of Robert Durst in HBO’s Jinx. He admitted to killing his neighbor and then chopping him up and dumping him into Galveston Bay. He argued self-defense and was acquitted.
When Durst was arrested last summer for purposely peeing on the checkout counter and candy display at a Houston CVS pharmacy, Durst’s lawyer claimed that we should all feel sorry for Durst.
On Tuesday morning, after arranging for Durst to turn himself into authorities in connection with the odd incident at the drug store, Lewis once again defended his client, whom he said suffers from a form of autism known as Asperger s syndrome.
I take issue with someone that says crazy, Lewis said. Bob s not crazy. Bob s a guy who’s just trying to live through the twilight of his life. And it s very difficult when you’re Bob Durst.
Well, life seems to be more difficult for the people around Durst who, you know, keep turning up dead. They have dead syndrome.
Durst was arrested this morning in New Orleans on a murder warrant from California.
“I could not be more pleased about this,” Judge Susan Criss, who oversaw the Galveston trial, told ABC affiliate KTRK after hearing about Durst’s latest arrest. “I do think this will stick. It’s amazing how many times the ball has been dropped when he’s been suspected of murder. But I’m hopeful for this one to stick especially so that the families can have closure.”
His lawyer says that it’s a publicity stunt by HBO. His lawyer has delusion syndrome.
I think he and his lawyer deserve each other. Wait until Durst gets mad at his lawyer!
1Aspergers???? No way!!! Thats simply a guy who would otherwise be sleeping in a cardboard box in the alley. Him not “there”. Probably hasn’t been “there” for decades. Its amazing the amount of cover a lot of money can give a guy.
2My favorite part of “Jinx,” the HBO documentary about Durst: Dick DeGuerin, Durst’s high-dollar defense lawyer, looking right at the camera and saying in no uncertain terms what we all know to be the case: the quality and fairness of the American justice system is directly related to how much money and influence you possess. Exhibit “A” for this obvious fact: Robert Durst.
3There’s a wide range of ASperger’s. Many functional people like engineers have high functioning Aspergers. This whole thing is what’s crazy.
4I know several people with Aspergers. None of them are psychopathic serial killers.
5Marge, known some people with Asperger’s myself. They seemed quite civilized and definitely not prone to murder or mayhem. The American Psychiatric Association recently separated out Asperger’s from another syndrome and do not seem to be really interested in it any more. Durst has something else in the way of a diagnosis.
6What will be his plea/defense – affluenza?
7Need to put Durst and his lawyer in a room with Justin Harris and his wife Marsha Harris. And a pink spanky thing. And have cameras recording. And no books or toys. Other than the pink spanky thing.
http://www.nwahomepage.com/fulltext-news/d/story/documents-detail-spanking-isolation-of-girls-by-ha/19555/cdzk8WpaUkqCIt-q0VzO8Q
8Here’s his attorney!
http://www.lawyer.com/chip-lewis.html
9When I think of lawyers who have defended scumbags, like this guy with Durst and Ken Lay, and the Oklahoma U racists’ lawyer who defended Timothy McVeigh, I take a deep breath and remember that John Adams defended the British soldiers brought to trial for the Boston Massacre, and declared it “one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country,” because he knew that everyone deserves a fair trial.
https://www.aclu.org/national-security/john-adams-and-boston-massacre
10I think PKM got it … Affluenze, indeed!!
11We all have our crosses to bear. This guy has a murdered and dismembered neighbor, a missing former wife and a dead writer who worked for him to account for. Let the accounting begin.
12Rhea, you and John Adams are correct about the right to a fair trial. The ACLU was correct in defending the repugnant Limbaugh. Durst deserves his day in court, albeit again. It’s a wonder the man can pass through the metal detectors at the rate ‘lightning’ seems to strike him, but he does deserve due process.
My crack about affluenza cuts both ways. It’s a travesty that some sit on death row for lack of funds to process DNA, etc. We definitely need to place the funding back into fair trials.
13PKM, I agree it’s a travesty that some are on death row (or otherwise imprisoned) for lack of funds to process DNA, or lack of justices who care about correcting the system’s mistakes. It’s also a travesty that some walk the streets and badly damage more people for lack of funds to process rape kits, or lack of police departments that give a damn.
14I hope Judge Criss is correct. Durst has too many debts that are way past due.
I agree with PKM and Rhea — our justice system is far better than most, but far, far from perfect.
15So from this discussion, the two takeaways are that no matter what sort of low life y’are since you are accused in the US of A, you deserve legal representation. And, once accused in the US of A, you will get exactly the amount of justice that you can afford.
16There seems to be no evidence that people with Asperger s syndrome are prone to bad behavior. Some lawyers, on the other hand . . .
17Aspergers syndrome can be responsible for awkward social situations but thats about it. There are 2 TV shows that intrigue the psychologist in me because the leads have been written as Asperger symptomatic: The Big Bang and Bones. Testing has found that there are a helluva lot of Asperger patients with genius IQs. A review of historical figures through the ages has resulted in opinions that a whole wagonload of them also had Aspergers. As much as Aspergers has been studied ever since it was identified, the results have yet to come up with a serial murderer. I opine that may be because society kind of stays at arms length from the socially awkward and the rationality found among Asperger patients kind of reins them in.
18Well, aren’t you gon’na share all the little secret-y stuff your friend tol’ you after her trial with bad boy Bobby?
19No, Oldymoldy, I’m sworn to secrecy because she’s working on a book.
20Maggie, until last week, when it was canceled, another TV show featured an Asperger’s genius: Alex, the son/CIA analyst on Allegiance.
21Dick DeGuerin one of his lawyers will get him off on mental illness. When he shows up to defend someone he usually wins even though he’s wrong. That’s just madening, but wasn’t DeGuerin also Tom DeLay’s lawyer?
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