Robert Durst murder trial delayed several hours due to ‘unfortunate’ medical issue
LOS ANGELES — Robert Durst’s Los Angeles murder trial was delayed Tuesday by another medical issue suffered by the millionaire Manhattan real estate scion.
“Mr. Durst at some time before he arrived at the courthouse this morning was incontinent and had diarrhea and was unable to change or to be in court,” Durst’s lawyer Dick DeGuerin said in open court Tuesday afternoon as his client sat in a wheelchair nearby.
“It was very awful — foul. So he had to be returned to the jail to be cleaned up,” DeGuerin said before jurors were finally called around 2 p.m.
“I’m concerned because it shows further deterioration of Mr. Durst’s physical condition. As the court knows, we’re going to have him examined tomorrow,” DeGuerin, who’s repeatedly argued that Durst, 78, is too ill to stand trial, said.
“He had diarrhea, and that’s unfortunate, and it’s happened before,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark Windham said. “He had to go back to jail to be cleaned up. We did that, I was able to make some phone calls to get him cleaned up and brought back here today so we don’t lose court time.”
But DeGuerin pressed on, saying his client might be in danger.
“As a layman, I know diarrhea often causes dehydration and that’s a serious condition, particularly given Mr. Durst’s myriad of other conditions,” he said.
“Luckily we don’t need to depend on laymen,” Deputy District Attorney John Lewin shot back. “The county has demonstrated that they can take proper care of Mr. Durst.”
Judge Windham said he was happy to make accommodations to help Durst attend the trial as comfortably as possible, but he said “the trial has to go forward.”
“For everyone’s sake and for everyone’s health, the sooner we finish the better,” he said.
Durst is accused of murdering his best friend Susan Berman in Los Angeles in December 2000.
Prosecutors claim Durst previously murdered his first wife Kathie Durst in New York in 1982 and used Berman as part of his alibi. They say Durst later killed Berman to guarantee her silence amid a renewed investigation of Kathie’s case.
Durst has not been charged with Kathie’s murder and claims he has no idea what happened to her. The young medical student’s body has never been found.
