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The eminent Texas litigator leading New York real estate heir and suspected murderer Robert Durst’s defense team tells PEOPLE that his notorious client is anxious to get to California so he

can finally prove his innocence. “He is ready for the fight,” explains attorney Dick DeGuerin, who successfully defended Durst, 72, in 2003 while he was on trial for allegedly killing and

dismembering Morris Black, his Galveston, Texas, neighbor. “He was very discouraged, at first, when they arrested him” on federal firearm charges in New Orleans back on March 14, DeGuerin

says. “But he has come to realize that this is finally his opportunity to clear his name – at trial, with fair rules, in a court that will require hard evidence.” TV CONFESSION Durst ignored

DeGuerin’s advice and served as the subject of the Emmy-winning HBO documentary series, _The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst_, which concluded its six-episode run in March. The

series focused on the 1982 disappearance of Durst’s first wife, Kathleen, while examining the 2000 murder of his longtime friend and spokeswoman, Susan Berman, for which he’s now facing

first-degree murder charges in Los Angeles. At the conclusion of _The Jinx_, Durst seemingly admitted his guilt mere moments after filmmaker Andrew Jarecki confronted him with a 1999 letter

that the scion penned to Berman. The missive’s handwriting appears to match an anonymous letter mailed to Beverly Hills Police, alerting them to a “cadaver” at his Berman’s residence. Both

letters also misspelled the word “Beverly” as “Beverley.” With a live microphone still attached to his shirt, Durst could be heard softly talking to himself in a bathroom in the finale. At

one point, the frail millionaire allegedly uttered, “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” In an interview with PEOPLE, DeGuerin says the producers of the acclaimed HBO show

“were out to get [Durst] from the very get-go” and claims his client was “tricked into thinking he would get a fair opportunity to explain himself after being under unfair suspicion for

almost all of his adult life in the disappearance of his wife.” Instead, DeGuerin says Durst was blindsided by Jarecki, who did not respond to emails seeking comment for this story. “Now,

he’s unfairly suspected of killing Ms. Berman because of this entertainment program being creatively edited to make it look like he was either confessing or that there is new evidence when

there is not,” DeGuerin says. “He is eager to finally get have his say in court, at his trial, in front of a jury and not with somebody who was only out to get an Emmy.” LIFE IN JAIL

DeGuerin says he has been traveling to Hahnville, Louisiana, weekly to meet with Durst at the St. Charles Parish Jail, where he is being held without bail. His client is not in isolation,

but isn’t “roaming general population with 20-year-old gangbangers” either, he says. DeGuerin says he’s “very satisfied with the way” his client is being treated at the jail, noting staffers

tend to Durst’s ongoing health issues. Without offering up names, DeGuerin adds his client has had a number of visitors since his arrest in March. Durst’s trial on the federal gun charge –

stemming from his alleged possession of a handgun at the time of his March arrest – is set to begin in New Orleans on Jan. 11, 2016, and DeGuerin says he can’t wait. “We’re ready to go, like

race horses in the starting gates,” the lawyer says. “This case in New Orleans has been a distraction from him being able to defend himself in this case in California. We are trying to

expedite the process [in Louisiana] so we can get him to California and go to trial as soon as we can.” DeGuerin, who will represent Durst when he goes to trial in both Louisiana and

California, admits that he’s not sure how easy it is going to be to find impartial jurors after the airing of _The Jinx_. “We don’t know how much exposure HBO has in the areas where we will

be picking our jury, but it is available through hundreds of cable providers and has been replaying,” he says. “You can also watch it online. What the saturation is, I don’t know. But we are

making efforts to find that out.” DeGuerin also says he’d be curious to see the raw footage that Jarecki and his film crew captured while profiling Durst. “There are hundreds of hours of

footage that was shot over several days with Bob, and a lot of the outtakes we don’t have yet but we would like to see because as I said, I think it was heavily creatively edited,” DeGuerin

says. Durst has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. _Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of

intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter._