Louisiana drops gun charges against Durst
Louisiana authorities on Thursday dismissed weapons charges against real estate heir Robert Durst — who faces a murder charge in Los Angeles — as federal authorities moved forward with their case against him.
Orleans Parish Dist. Atty. Leon A. Cannizzaro Jr., who is working closely with federal prosecutors, decided to dismiss two state gun charges against Durst: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with a controlled substance.
“It was determined that this case would be prosecuted in the federal courts,” Assistant Dist. Atty. Christopher Bowman told the Los Angeles Times.
Although state prosecutors have dropped the charges, Bowman said they “reserve the right” to look at their case against Durst after the federal case is over.
Durst’s lead attorney, Houston-based Dick DeGuerin, told The Times that the move was “fair and reasonable, as otherwise there would have been parallel prosecutions going on at the same time.”
“I look forward to our day in court and to getting the Louisiana case resolved, so we can get to California and challenge the murder accusation,” he said.
Durst, the subject of the HBO documentary series “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,“pleaded not guilty April 14 to a federal gun charge.
The New York millionaire was charged with breaking state and federal gun laws after FBI agents who stopped him at a New Orleans hotel found a .38-caliber revolver and marijuana in his room.
Agents were looking for Durst, 72, in connection with an L.A. murder warrant issued in the 2000 shooting of Susan Berman at her Benedict Canyon home.
Berman, a longtime friend of Durst, served as a spokeswoman for him after his first wife, Kathleen, disappeared in New York in 1982.
“Bob Durst didn’t kill Susan Berman and he doesn’t know who did,” DeGuerin said Thursday.
Durst has waived extradition to California, but Louisiana authorities have refused to release him.