Durst just ‘fine,’ says his lawyer
ROBERT DURST is “doing fine” after an emergency hospitalization delayed his murder case two weeks ago, his lawyer told the Daily News on Tuesday.
The multimillionaire real estate scion looked frail and skinny as he appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom, but he shuffled in and out of the pretrial hearing without assistance.
“He’s elderly. He’s had health problems. He’s doing fine,” lead defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin said of his 74-year-old client.
DeGuerin dismissed as “bulls--t” a report this week that claimed Durst was using a wheelchair and “rotting” in a psychiatric ward.
He declined to elaborate on the exact reason Durst was hospitalized in the predawn hours of Nov. 16.
“He’s not in a psych ward. He’s not dying,” another Durst lawyer, Donald Re, told The News.
In court Tuesday, Durst wore a blue blazer, tan pants, jail slippers and special headphones to follow the ongoing testimony from retired NYPD Detective Michael Struk.
Prosecutors claim Durst killed pal Susan Berman, 55, in her Los Angeles bungalow in 2000. NEARLY 100 defense attorneys staged an impromptu protest outside a Brooklyn courthouse Tuesday after a lawyer’s client was arrested by federal authorities on an immigration charge.
When Rebecca Kavanagh walked into Judge Rosemarie Montalbano’s courtroom, she was warned to speak to her client immediately because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were present and prepared to detain him.
Moments later, ICE agents detained Genaro Rojas-Hernandez, 30, who was in Brooklyn Criminal Court for a misdemeanor domestic violence charge.
It was not immediately clear what the immigration issue was or what country Rojas-Hernandez was from.
But what was clear is that many defense attorneys view the courthouse as a haven that is off-limits on issues involving immigration — and that they were banding together to voice their displeasure.
“Stay out ICE,” and “Shame on you,” the lawyers shouted, while others held makeshift signs that read “F--k ICE,” and “Go away.”
“They arrested him and put him into a restricted area. The courtroom’s sergeant pushed me and the court officers kept me away,” said Kavanagh, who asked the judge to set bail for her client to keep him out of ICE custody. The judge declined to set bail but instructed the court officers to allow Kavanagh to speak with her client.
“The sergeant ignored the judge’s directive,” Kavanagh said. “It was totally inappropriate.”
When Kavanagh finally caught up with her client, who doesn’t speak English, he told her the men who detained him didn’t identify themselves.
Defense attorney Reda Woodcock said his client was in court on a desk appearance ticket from a marijuana possession charge when he was picked up by ICE. “He has no criminal record and they arrested him,” Woodcock said. “It’s unbelievable. He’s only 22 years old and they’re grabbing him over a case that was going to get dismissed.
“This is getting way out of hand; they’re sending in ICE agents in plainclothes over a joint. Come on, man.”
A statement from the state Office of Court Administration said several Legal Aid attorneys escalated the situation by “purposely interfering in an arrest situation.”