Prosecutors in Los Angeles are seeking to admit real estate scion Robert Durst’s DVD commentary for the 2010 Ryan Gosling film “All Good Things” into evidence at Durst’s upcoming murder trial.
In paperwork filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, district attorney Jackie Lacey and others have asked that the commentary be admitted as evidence of “adoptive admission.”
Prosecutors contend that the film, while fictional, was based on Durst’s case, and that Durst told filmmakers on camera that he felt the drama “was very, very, very close in much of the ways about what, pretty much, happened.”
“All Good Things, although a ‘fictional’ movie, was specifically based and marketed as the story of the disappearance and death of defendant Robert Durst’s (‘Defendant’) wife, the subsequent murder of his best friend, and the killing of his neighbor and confidante in Texas,” the paperwork reads.
“The movie pulled no punches; it made clear that the character based on Defendant had personally killed his wife in New York, planned and directed the murder of his best friend in California, and personally murdered his neighbor in Texas. The movie further alleged that Defendant’s spree of violence had begun years earlier with the senseless killing of his dog.”
However, the paperwork says, despite all that, Durst complimented director Andrew Jarecki’s film, which starred Gosling as the Durst-like “David Marks” and Kirsten Dunst as David’s murdered wife, Katie.
“After reading the script and watching this movie, Defendant did not sue the production company for slander, nor did he object to how the movie portrayed him. Instead, he contacted the director and expressed how much he had enjoyed the film and agreed to sit for a series of interviews, including the DVD commentary for the movie,” the paperwork reads.
“When Defendant was asked on camera about his feelings about a film which had alleged that he had murdered three people and a dog, he responded, not with denials, but by stating, ‘I felt the movie was very, very, very close in much of the ways about what, pretty much, happened.’”
Tuesday’s paperwork contends that Durst’s comments amount to “adoptive admissions.”
“The evidence is clear that these adoptive admissions by Defendant were freely, knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made. Not only were they relayed under circumstances where Defendant had a clear understanding that the interviews would be utilized for the DVD commentary, and what would eventually became the HBO miniseries, ‘The Jinx,’ but they were made when Defendant had legal representation present,” the paperwork reads. “For these reasons, as explained more fully infra, this evidence must be presented and evaluated by the trier of fact.”
Durst’s attorney had no comment for TheWrap on Tuesday’s motion.
Real estate scion Durst is facing murder charges for the 2001 death of his friend Susan Berman.Durst has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Berman.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.