In rare move for murder defendant, Robert Durst expected to testify

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New York real estate heir Robert Durst is expected to take the stand in his own defense in a Los Angeles County court Thursday in a rare move considered extremely risky for a defendant in a murder trial.

Durst is charged with killing his best friend Susan Berman, who was shot and killed in her home in 2000.

Prosecutors are set to resume their cross-examination of the only other defense witness, false memory expert Elizabeth Loftus, to begin the day, and should defense attorneys go through with their plans to call the 78-year-old Durst, his testimony will follow, and should last several days.

The bold move worked once before.

Durst's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, also represented him in his 2003 Texas murder trial, when he put Durst on the stand. Durst was charged with killing his Galveston neighbor Morris Black while in hiding there after Berman's killing. He said Black was accidentally killed in a struggle after entering Durst's apartment with a gun. He admitted to dismembering and disposing of Black's body. The jury acquitted him of murder.

Read more: https://wacotrib.com/news/national/in-rare-move-for-murder-defendant-durst-expected-to-testify/article_e3c4dbac-a473-5d81-890f-fc6d17cb547a.html
(Waco Tribune-Herald)