A New Orleans judge ordered former New York district attorney Jeanine Pirro to vacate a courtroom Monday during a bond hearing for real estate scion Robert Durst.
Durst's attorney Dick DeGuerin said in court that he plans to call Pirro, who was sitting in the front row, as a potential witness in the case. The judge denied the request and she was allowed to return. In 2000, Pirro, the former Westchester County district attorney, opened an investigation into the disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen.
Christopher Bowman, a spokesman for the Orleans Parish district attorney, interrupted the hearing to say Pirro cannot be called as a witness and was there as a journalist.
"Frankly, I don't buy that, judge," DeGuerin said, "She's here because she's been participating in the dogging of Mr. Durst for years and years."
Pirro walked back into court to talk to her lawyer and was forced to leave by the bailiff.
Bowman argued that during Durst's Texas trial, "they made Pirro into the bogeyman" and he cited "The Jinx" HBO documentary on Durst.
"It's happening again," Bowman said.
Bowman said Pirro cannot be excluded as a former district attorney without a hearing. Her lawyer said it's a free speech issue.
"They can't have it both ways--either she's a lawyer or a journalist," DeGuerin said, adding he was told Pirro is no longer licensed to practice law in New York.
Earlier, DeGuerin said an L.A. detective "interrogated" Durst at Orleans Parish Jail on Sunday morning without him and even after he had contacted his attorneys late Saturday.
Authorities, he argued, knew Durst had contacted his attorneys.
Prosecutor Mark Burton said authorities had probable cause to arrest Durst. Burton questioned James O'Hearne, a district attorney investigator, about how Durst had pleaded guilty to bail jumping and tampering with evidence during his Texas murder case.
At the time, Durst had been caught in Pennsylvania with two .38 handguns and $37,000. His bond was set at $1 billion in the murder case, in which a jury acquitted him.
The investigator said Los Angeles officials requested a warrant to monitor Durst's phone before his arrest in New Orleans and used that to track him.
O'Hearne listed what was found in Durst's hotel room, including "a flesh-tone mask with salt-and-pepper hair," two Florida travel books, a U.S. map, partially smoked cigarettes believed to be marijuana and four bags of what was believed to be marijuana, 446 $100 bills and other cash.
With the warrant, detectives followed Durst, who had five suitcases and had left his car and apartment unlocked and headed east on Interstate 10.
Durst then called his voicemail from his New Orleans hotel room.
Dozens of reporters packed the courtroom as Durst stood in court wearing an orange jail jumpsuit. His head was shaved, revealing a scar stretching down the top of his head.
On Friday, DeGuerin successfully requested a preliminary hearing "to determine whether the state has sufficient evidence to justify further criminal proceedings on these charges" and whether he should be released. A date for the preliminary hearing was to be determined Monday.
Durst was arrested March 14 in New Orleans on a warrant from Los Angeles, where he has been charged with murder in connection with the 2000 shooting of his friend Susan Berman at her Beverly Hills home.
He is being held at a medical facility at a state prison in St. Gabriel, La., about an hour's drive from New Orleans.
DeGuerin, based in Houston, and New Orleans attorney Billy Gibbens argued Friday in a filing that there is no probable cause to hold Durst on the state charges he faces. Those charges were filed after his arrest March 14 at a New Orleans hotel where, according to court records, he was found with a .38 revolver and about five ounces of marijuana.
He was then charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and illegally carrying a weapon with a controlled substance--charges his attorneys argue in the latest filing are unfounded because "none of Mr. Durst's prior convictions qualify as a predicate felony offense" under Louisiana state law, and because the state failed to prove Durst "was in possession or immediate control of a firearm while also in possession of a controlled substance."
Cantrell ordered the hearing, but it wasn't clear from court paperwork how soon it would occur.
On Sunday, DeGuerin said a Los Angeles prosecutor talked with Durst for three hours in Louisiana without his permission before he arrived to represent Durst.
Durst is now awaiting extradition on the California warrant. He is accused of the execution-style killing of Berman, who was shot once in the head.
At the time, New York authorities were planning to interview Berman about what she knew about the 1982 disappearance of Durst's first wife, Kathleen.
Durst is charged with lying in wait and killing Berman because she was a witness to a crime. He could face the death penalty if he is found guilty.
Los Angeles police detectives said two handwriting experts have linked Durst to an anonymous letter alerting authorities to a "cadaver" at Berman's home.
molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times9:17 a.m.: This story has been updated with developments from morning hearing in New Orleans.
This story was first published at 7:03 a.m.
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