E.D.La.: Robert Durst case: One does not lose REP in a hotel room by registering under an alias

Robert Durst was believed to be on the run after the HBO series “The Jinx,” where he allegedly admitted a connection to a 10 year old homicide in Los Angeles. He was found by the FBI in the Marriott in New Orleans. At the same time, LAPD was in Houston looking for him, and they searched his house with a search warrant. Registering in a hotel under an alias is not a waiver of any expectation of privacy. “Although there is no Fifth Circuit authority on point, this Court is not about to disrupt the long standing Fourth Amendment protection afforded hotel rooms as temporary homes by declaring that the use of an alias negates any privacy interest in that room. To do so would call into question the privacy expected from numerous dignitaries, politicians and celebrities who rely on using an alias to register for hotel rooms in order to maintain their security and privacy.” The FBI took Durst to his room to “inventory” it, and they found a handgun. The LAPD told them to back off, they were coming from Houston. They procured a search warrant for the room. They would have searched the room in any event because it is logical to do so when somebody is on the lam to look for things aiding in flight. The affidavit for the NOLA search warrant was nearly identical to the Houston one, with some 10 year old information, and that one was already found to have probable cause despite some minor defects. United States v. Durst, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136225 (E.D.La. Oct. 6, 2015).