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CNN Live At Daybreak
Durst Trial: Jury Finds Millionaire Not Guilty of Murder
Aired November 12, 2003 - 06:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Other legal news for you this morning, a surprising not guilty verdict in the murder trial of Robert Durst. Did you hear about this? He's the man who admitted that he shot his neighbor, cut up the corpse and then dumped the body parts in Galveston Bay. The jury's decision was just the final twist in a very bizarre case.
Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robert Durst comes from a family that has millions of dollars, owns large chunks of Manhattan real estate, but yet his defense attorneys say that he did not buy his way into freedom, but Robert Durst was still stunned when the jury returned its verdict.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, Robert Durst, not guilty.
LAVANDERA: After reaching the verdict, several members of the jury came out to speak with the news media to explain how a man is found not guilty after admitting to shooting his neighbor, cutting up the body, then dumping the corpse into Galveston Bay.
How that person could be found not guilty, well, the members of this jury say that it had everything to do with the moment of the crime. And they did believe, in the end, that Robert Durst was acting in self-defense, that Morris Black shouldn't have been in his apartment back in September of 2001. They believe that story, not the more sinister plot that prosecutors had laid out.
In fact, one juror saying that in the end the prosecutors laid out just too many scenarios, they didn't know which one to believe, and they appreciated that the defense stuck to one story.
CHRIS LOVELL, JUROR: We're going to convict Mr. Durst, but here's your reason why A, B, C or D. Pick one and we're going to send him away. Well that's not the way it works. Tell me -- tell me what happened.
JOANNE GONGORA, JUROR: We all kept coming back to that original charge is -- was it an act of self-defense or an accident how Morris Black met his death?
ROBBIE CLARAC, JUROR: We can't convict someone on our thoughts or what we think or what we perceive or what we speculate. We can't do that. We went on the facts that was presented to us from the prosecution and we could not convict him.
DEBORAH WARREN, JUROR: Whether to agree to you all or to anyone else out there in America, this is what we came up with.
LAVANDERA: Just because Robert Durst was found not guilty does not mean that his legal troubles are over. Durst has already been indicted on a bail jumping charge, which could carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison if he is found guilty on that. So Robert Durst still sits in jail here in Galveston, Texas.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Galveston, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 12, 2003 - 06:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Other legal news for you this morning, a surprising not guilty verdict in the murder trial of Robert Durst. Did you hear about this? He's the man who admitted that he shot his neighbor, cut up the corpse and then dumped the body parts in Galveston Bay. The jury's decision was just the final twist in a very bizarre case.
Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robert Durst comes from a family that has millions of dollars, owns large chunks of Manhattan real estate, but yet his defense attorneys say that he did not buy his way into freedom, but Robert Durst was still stunned when the jury returned its verdict.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, Robert Durst, not guilty.
LAVANDERA: After reaching the verdict, several members of the jury came out to speak with the news media to explain how a man is found not guilty after admitting to shooting his neighbor, cutting up the body, then dumping the corpse into Galveston Bay.
How that person could be found not guilty, well, the members of this jury say that it had everything to do with the moment of the crime. And they did believe, in the end, that Robert Durst was acting in self-defense, that Morris Black shouldn't have been in his apartment back in September of 2001. They believe that story, not the more sinister plot that prosecutors had laid out.
In fact, one juror saying that in the end the prosecutors laid out just too many scenarios, they didn't know which one to believe, and they appreciated that the defense stuck to one story.
CHRIS LOVELL, JUROR: We're going to convict Mr. Durst, but here's your reason why A, B, C or D. Pick one and we're going to send him away. Well that's not the way it works. Tell me -- tell me what happened.
JOANNE GONGORA, JUROR: We all kept coming back to that original charge is -- was it an act of self-defense or an accident how Morris Black met his death?
ROBBIE CLARAC, JUROR: We can't convict someone on our thoughts or what we think or what we perceive or what we speculate. We can't do that. We went on the facts that was presented to us from the prosecution and we could not convict him.
DEBORAH WARREN, JUROR: Whether to agree to you all or to anyone else out there in America, this is what we came up with.
LAVANDERA: Just because Robert Durst was found not guilty does not mean that his legal troubles are over. Durst has already been indicted on a bail jumping charge, which could carry a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison if he is found guilty on that. So Robert Durst still sits in jail here in Galveston, Texas.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Galveston, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
