While appearing on a show hosted by a woman gunning for his client, Chip Lewis, an attorney for Robert Durst, said that the so-called confession Durst made on a hot mic during the finale of HBO’s The Jinx can’t be taken too seriously because we all mutter things to ourselves without meaning them. The interview took place on Fox News’ Justice with Judge Jeanine, hosted by Jeanine Pirro, who you may remember as the former Westchester County District Attorney who was hellbent on getting Robert Durst arrested for the disappearance of his wife Kathleen. Lewis was what you could charitably call blasé about the whole thing, as lawyers tend to be when discussing pending cases.
“My overarching thoughts are, I was a bit underwhelmed, given the lead-up and the build-up to this new development,” he said.
Lewis then went on to [say]: “You’ve said things under your breath that you probably didn’t mean.”
When Jeanine Pirro said, “Chip, the guy admitted on television he killed three people,” Lewis replied: “I mean, L.A. County has got the case. We’ll address those facts in the courtroom. But generally speaking I was underwhelmed, honestly, Judge.”
Naturally, Pirro is obligated to push the issue, especially given her role in the legal history of Robert Durst. But others on the panel were pretty convinced that Durst, who is currently being held in New Orleans and might have a new gun charge to deal with, knew exactly what he was saying and may have even said it while knowingly being recorded. One person saying that was former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, the only convicted felon to come out of the O.J. Simpson trial. (For perjury.) But let’s let bygones be bygones for a moment and see what he has to say about Robert Durst’s confession:
“I think that the statement is going to come in,” he said. “I think it was an unsolicited, spontaneous statement. He is wearing a hot wire. He has been notified it’s a hot wire before. It is being recorded, and he knows it. That is specifically why he is there. I don’t think it made a difference if he went into a bathroom or any other room. He knows he’s being wired. And I think the statement will come in, and I think it’s highly incriminating.”
“Highly incriminating,” hmmm? Like, say, a bloody glove? I know, I know… “Mark Furhman isn’t on trial here!” But it’s just hilarious that he now makes his living with his words when all they ever do is get him in trouble.
Anyway, back to Chip Lewis, who obviously can’t say much and is being paid to defend his client. It always pays to be steadfast in proclaiming a client’s innocence, but saying that people don’t mean everything they say under their breath is pretty disingenuous when your client pursued a filmmaker to make a six-part documentary about him only to have evidence against him put in front of his face.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter