Dick DeGuerin and Mike Ramsey, the team of Texas lawyers that obtained an acquittal for NY real estate heir Robert Durst this week, are profiled in the Houston Chronicle. Here's what they say about the availablity of legal fees in the case:

Neither DeGuerin nor Ramsey, however, downplay the role that money in general and Durst's millions in particular play in mounting a good defense. In the days following the Durst decision, there were howls of outrage on local radio talk shows and in New York tabloids that Durst escaped punishment with his wallet.

"I recognize that the general public thinks that justice is for sale and that the general public looks on criminal defense attorneys as being slightly better than street sweepers," DeGuerin said. "It's a shame that they think that way. We did get adequately compensated and the only advantage it gave us was that we were able to level the playing field with the state, which has unlimited resources."

Ramsey was more blunt. "In this case there was plenty of money. It wasn't a problem," he said. "The inevitable conclusion is that if a case is properly funded you can prepare better. You can hire the proper staff, you can hire investigators, you can better prepare for what amounts to a Broadway production."

Rather than resenting the rich for being able to afford an effective defense, why don't we insist that our Government provide the same resources to indigent defendants?