Fear him or jeer him- Bob Durst is the Houdini of criminal prosecution thus far.  Sitting in a medical wing  at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, Louisiana he is awaiting his next “report to scene” call- currently scheduled for this Thursday.   His Texas lawyers Chip Lewis and Dick DeGuerin intend to pull his freedom out of their ten gallon hats- freedom from the charges Durst is facing in Louisiana that is.   If that happens,  Durst has already waived extradition to be transferred to Los Angeles  to face the pending criminal indictment against him in the 2000 murder of his close friend, commiserator and confidant,  Susan Berman.  The State of Louisiana has thirty days to enforce extradition and that shot-clock runs out next week.

DeGuerin Durst

Last week Durst’s  preliminary hearing was continued  at the request of his attorneys when three law enforcement witnesses who are named in a probable cause affidavit failed to comply with a subpoena and appear at the hearing.   Mark Burton,  Supervisor, Magistrate and Municipal Courts of New Orleans at Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office, repeatedly and by many accounts bawled loudly for the defense to present alternative witnesses to the three contained in the arrest warrant.   Burton asked the court to consider his unauthenticated arrest warrant (legal equivalent of a soiled cocktail napkin for this proceeding)  signed by Trooper Saunders Craine to serve as probable cause of the States charges against Durst.    Burton produced no witnesses of his own and Municipal Judge Harry Cantrell, Jr. was unmoved.  Cantrell continued the hearing until this Thursday.

Sources who wish to remain anonymous as they are not authorized to speak publicly about the case have confirmed to www.blinkoncrime.com that SA Williams,  SA Bender and Sgt Craine have been compelled to appear.   Although Federal prosecutors initially barred the FBI agents from testifying and have subsequently motioned to remove the subpoenas entirely,  it is unclear upon what reasoning Trooper Craine decided to dodge the subpoena considering his name is signed to the affidavit.

Could the United States Attorney’s Office be considering Federal charges against Durst?

All may be leading to the classic audience favorite however- the bait and switch- as Durst is due in court this afternoon on the extradition matter and Teflon Bob’s New Orleans based Attorney Billy Gibbens intends to push for immediate extradition.    It is the defense’s position that the pending charges against Durst resulted from an illegal search conducted before a search warrant was obtained for his hotel room after he was confronted by FBI agents in the lobby.   After Thursday’s melee,  DeGuerin wasted no time and filed his Good Friday  motion for dismissal of the felony firearm and possession of marijuana charges on the grounds that no probable cause has been offered and asks Cantrell to “end these tortuous proceedings.”

“It’s all part of us making an effort to get to California,” DeGuerin told The Times, noting, “I would think the Los Angeles prosecutors would be clamoring to the him out there.” “I think what will develop is that the agents didn’t have probable cause to make an arrest, they didn’t have probable cause to make a search; they made a search before they had a search warrant. “The evidence is not admissible,” he said, adding: “That’s what we hope to establish if we can ever get a witness to take the stand.”- Atty Dick DeGuerin

Assistant DA Mark Burton is feeling the heat to drop the charges and there does seem to be a pretty wide legal majority that agrees with DeGuerin’s motion that there is not a single law on the books that allows Burton to offer as an  authenticated warrant without testimony at a preliminary hearing.

How  one thinks that is going to roll when the Houston search warrant alone specifies that Durst was already under surveillance for months may be Burton’s turn at magic.

Please join me this evening discussing up to date Robert Durst developments as a guest on THE DANA PRETZER SHOW, LIVE Tonight at 9PM

Podcast added here