A Real Head Case: Robert Durst

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101031124-543801,00.html

This man has probably killed three people including his first wife, an informant to his first wife's death, and his best friend, and he's also admitted to dismembering his best friend's body after killing him. After posting bail, he fled as a fugitive cross-dresser self-medicating on alcohol and weed, and was caught shoplifting a sandwich in a convinience store with $500 cash in his pocket and $38,000 cash in his car.

Why is he a free man then? Because he's a real estate tycoon worth $250 million and bought his way out of convictions with a team of lawyers. Free even after he indirectly conceded guilt by commissioning an $8000 study on the most comfortable prisons in Texas during his last trial.

Guess we should take all his money and give it to the people who don't want to work??

Originally posted by SDuquette
Guess we should take all his money and give it to the people who don't want to work??

I guess you should grow up, deal with your ego issues, and put an end to your childish schoolyard remarks.

ahem.

a rich guy getting off, I'm stunned

what's the alternative?

Matching this guy's legal team dollar for dollar?

take money away from schools so we can spend millions on single judicial cases?

like in Eagle County where they will spend more on the Kobe trail, then they probably will for all their murder cases for the next year. (I'm just guessing here but I bet I'm close) What's more important? getting murders off the street or making an example of Kobe?

I'm just asking questions out loud...

of course he should be in jail, but it's the exception more then the rule. The US incarcerates over 2 million people...he got lucky

plus what's more important? the single case or all the other cases?

I just fail to see how much money he has would come in to play here. I have a friend who has had half a dozen DWI arrests, and has never seen more than a night in jail. The last time he ran his big truck through someone's house, and some other stuff, and still got off. Believe me, they don't have $250 million. Yes they have money, but if you know the right people, you can get your way out of anything. That is why I asked the question I asked in the previous post. What does the amount of money he has have to do with anything, you may allude that if we didn't allow him to have this money, he would be in jail.

Originally posted by SDuquette
I just fail to see how much money he has would come in to play here. I have a friend who has had half a dozen DWI arrests, and has never seen more than a night in jail. The last time he ran his big truck through someone's house, and some other stuff, and still got off. Believe me, they don't have $250 million. Yes they have money, but if you know the right people, you can get your way out of anything. That is why I asked the question I asked in the previous post. What does the amount of money he has have to do with anything, you may allude that if we didn't allow him to have this money, he would be in jail.

money equals better lawyers, or better yet your not stuck with a public defender

and knowing the right people is as good as money

Originally posted by SDuquette
I just fail to see how much money he has would come in to play here. I have a friend who has had half a dozen DWI arrests, and has never seen more than a night in jail. The last time he ran his big truck through someone's house, and some other stuff, and still got off. Believe me, they don't have $250 million. Yes they have money, but if you know the right people, you can get your way out of anything. That is why I asked the question I asked in the previous post. What does the amount of money he has have to do with anything, you may allude that if we didn't allow him to have this money, he would be in jail.

Some people are smooth talkers. Lex Luthor for instance has had HUNDREDS of traffic tickets dismissed in court, I've seen them ALL in person. If you aren't so gifted, you BUY people who are, as in pricey top-dollar legal TEAMS, who sit in rooms around the clock working angles around the system to get someone off the hook. This is nothing new, I'm surprised you haven't figured this relationship out yet: big money = big lawyerS, the best in the business in fact.

I somewhat agree. I have a legal department for my company that has received law suites from a few unhappy small business's and individuals (like all companies my size). The fact of the matter is, they will run out of money long before I will, so I can hold the cases in litigation for years and put their lawyers out of business without breaking a sweat. I don't rip people off, but some people sign our contracts without reading them and suffer the consequences when they want to terminate their agreements early and not pay the remainders of their bills.

Money will get you pretty far in a Corporate Court Case. Criminal Court cases on the other hand would require more than just money to win. You can still spend allot of money on a BS Lawyer. Spending that money wisely might very well win your case. I still think he should have gotten life.

well i was kidnapped by a few rich wealthy guys around my home town when i was younger who were high on coke and pills. Threatened me with death and pistols in my face for the heck of it, i had post tramatic stress disorder for a while. I had nightmares of demons taking me to hell, its the truth, not pretty but true. These men were in front of the judge and accused me of breaking in there house, the state police post that my dad drove me to when i was so scared i couldn't sit down that evening was not helping matters when they found out who the charges were going to be against, the sheriff who took two months delivering the summons to court ONLY after my father had to go raise hell @ the place the incident occured and told the cops when they get there to have the summons with them. Calling me a liar and giving me serious issues with trust and loyality, its a shame when you have money its a free pass, but sooner or later people will have to attone for what they have done, in the long run money could be the root of evil.

Originally posted by fireballs gs400
well i was kidnapped by a few rich wealthy guys around my home town when i was younger who were high on coke and pills. Threatened me with death and pistols in my face for the heck of it, i had post tramatic stress disorder for a while. I had nightmares of demons taking me to hell, its the truth, not pretty but true. These men were in front of the judge and accused me of breaking in there house, the state police post that my dad drove me to when i was so scared i couldn't sit down that evening was not helping matters when they found out who the charges were going to be against, the sheriff who took two months delivering the summons to court ONLY after my father had to go raise hell @ the place the incident occured and told the cops when they get there to have the summons with them. Calling me a liar and giving me serious issues with trust and loyality, its a shame when you have money its a free pass, but sooner or later people will have to attone for what they have done, in the long run money could be the root of evil.

I do feel bad for what you may have gone through, but all in all, the chances of that happening to someone else are a million too 1. I can win most lawsuits only because I have an awesome legal team. I do not buy my victories and I do not know or play golf with the judge or know the state prosecutor personally. When it comes down to it, a legal team, on staff, that is paid millions will usually put more effort in a case than say a pro-bono lawyer or a cookie cutter defense lawyer working for a few thousand dollars. My legal team pretty much has a blank check to put towards a case to win it, where as most lawyers in our area would go broke trying to defend or sue us.

i am one in a million :) plus not every rich person is guilty or in a sense buys himself freedom.

Originally posted by 2Lexus430s
I can win most lawsuits only because I have an awesome legal team. I do not buy my victories

Wait.....but aren't you buying your super legal team? Am i confused or are there some contradictions....?

James

Originally posted by jet864
Wait.....but aren't you buying your super legal team? Am i confused or are there some contradictions....?

James

no, I own my legal team, they are part of my company.. You can make that point using anything if you want to go there. You could say "the only reason you won the race is because you Bought the gas for your car"...

But what I'm saying is that because you were fortunate to be a wealthy man, you can afford these great legal teams. Now, if you were to commit a double murder, you would still have access to this great team who would do everything they could and most likely get you off. It just doesn't seem right that a rich man will be set free because of what his money can buy him. Everyone can buy gas for this race, but if you're the only one who can afford the highest octane race gas, it's not fair. Everyone should have a fair chance.

James

Originally posted by jet864
But what I'm saying is that because you were fortunate to be a wealthy man, you can afford these great legal teams. Now, if you were to commit a double murder, you would still have access to this great team who would do everything they could and most likely get you off. It just doesn't seem right that a rich man will be set free because of what his money can buy him. Everyone can buy gas for this race, but if you're the only one who can afford the highest octane race gas, it's not fair. Everyone should have a fair chance.

James

On the contrary, if his legal team is a COMPANY'S Legal team. If an $18.00 per hr employee gets sued by a customer then his Legal team defends them as well. If he is taking over another company or doing anything related to transfers of money then his legal team handles that, if he needs contracts written up, his legal team handles that as well. If he is endited for murder 1, then he needs a criminal defense team to handle that (if it was not related to his company)

If you have the money, you could afford a legal dream-team who has the ability to put a reasonable doubt into anyone. Look at OJ, his lawyers said some south-american gang could have killed OJ's wife and friend. Now look at Geragos saying some devil-worshipers might have killed Laci. Highly-paid lawyers know how to bend the legal rules and use all the lopeholes so they can get their clients off.

Money Talks and we listen !!!

What's the news here, that rich people have advantages? :eek1:

Compared to the 'rest', rich people usually eat better, live better, have better healthcare, have nicer vacations, nicer homes and more than one home, can afford nannies for their kids, personal trainers, a vehicle for every purpose whether they need it or not, more privacy, more security, and yes, better legal representation.

What does this all mean? It sounds like a good incentive to get rich!

Someone once said to me "only a small percentage of people get rich, why shouldn't I be one of them?" Prior to that I'd never though I might EVER be rich. I'm still not what I would call rich, but I'm a lot closer than I ever thought I'd be and now I believe I will be rich by my own definition!

Another viewpoint though says that rich is the person whose wants don't exceed his means. :)

I'm Rich. :)

Originally posted by lex400sc
I'm Rich. :)
LOL! :D