Law&Crime Sidebar - Bombshell Court Decision Rocks D4vd Murder Case

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

Attorneys for David Anthony Burke, also known as D4vd, were back in court Tuesday to discuss when the defense might be ready for a preliminary hearing in the singer's murder trial. In a stunning twist, the judge decided his hearing would be pushed back yet again. Law&Crime's Jesse Weber gets the latest details from inside the courtroom from investigative reporter Julia Deng.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Download the FREE Upside App at  https://upside.app.link/sidebar to get an extra 25 cents bonus for every gallon on your first tank of gas.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Accused murderer David Anthony Burke, aka David, was back in an L.A. courtroom today. And this has shaken up the entire case schedule. What exactly happened? What can we expect next? And what does this mean for the defense and the prosecution? Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. All right. I'm Jesse Weber.

Okay, I can jump into this without first telling you real quick about our partner, our sponsor, this app called Upside. Now, Upside gets you cash back, extra cash back on everyday purchases like gas, groceries, takeout. So here's what you do. You download Upside for free. You claim an offer at one of the 100,000-plus locations. You pay like normal with your card. You verify the purchase. And just like that, money back.

So say I need to get gas or want takeout one night. I'll search for Upside offers first. And after I spend, money appears my app that I can transfer right into my bank account. Now, Upside's frequent users, they earn an average of $254 back a year. So to start getting your cash back, click the link in the description or scan the QR code and make sure to use promo code sidebar to get an extra 25 cents bonus on every gallon on your first tank of guess. Okay, we got a court hearing in the David case that happened today.

We have a reporter, an investigative reporter in the courtroom, going to bring her on in a minute to talk about what happened. Now remember where we're at. The 21-year-old romantic homicide singer, real name David Anthony Burke, David, is facing charges of first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 and unlawful mutilation of human remains, all in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose decomposed dismembered body was found in a Tesla in L.A. back on September 8th of last year, a Tesla reportedly registered to David out in Texas,

and prosecutors have also alleged special circumstances with respect to the murder charge. That's what gets you potentially life in prison without the possibility of parole. That's what potentially gets you the death penalty, even though there's a moratorium on executions in California. Murder of a witness? Murder for financial gain, lying in wait, that he used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a sharp instrument. And the ME's office concluded that Celeste's cause of death was multiple penetrating injuries. Authorities alleging that David murdered Celeste to keep her quiet, that they were in an alleged illegal sexual relationship, her being a minor, that she was going to expose him, that she was. going to ruin his career, a financially lucrative career. I did whole episodes on the potential evidence establishing where he was at in his career. They also talk about these alleged tax

messages the day before the night before where she was allegedly angry with him and going to expose him. And the allegation is that he murdered her, murdered her to keep her quiet. And prosecutors claim that on April 23rd, 2025, he lured Celeste to this property in L.A., Hollywood Hills, stabbed her repeatedly, watched her bleed out, and then proceeded to order supplies online to engage in the dismemberment of her body and the cover-up of this alleged crime. Chainsaws, body bag, laundry bags, inflatable pool. They claim a combination of forensic evidence, surveillance footage, cellular data, DNA evidence, witness testimony, all ties him to these alleged crimes.

So what happened in court today? For that, let me bring on somebody who was in that courtroom today. Investigative reporter, Julia Dang is with us. Julia's so good to see you. Thank you so much for coming on to talk about this. Really appreciate it. I'm made of questions. I know this was a relatively, I think relatively short hearing, but very impactful, very important.

First of all, how did David look? Let's start there. Not great, Jesse. As you can imagine, I mean, we've talked about how he actually requested a haircut last time. It doesn't look to me like he got that haircut. He walked in wearing this orange LA County jail uniform, kind of lighter than what I'm wearing right now. He had a white long-sleeved shirt underneath it. He did not look clean shaving. Hair looked to be a little bit longer, very curly. But he was actively paying attention. He was looking from attorney to attorney

as they were speaking during this very brief status conference. And he did speak. this morning. This was actually my first time hearing his voice live. It was brief. He just said, yes, your honor, when the judge addressed him. And it was a question about pushing back the upcoming dates in this case. So it is still, you know, a question as to whether or not this is going to trial. And the big takeaway from this morning status conference is that we are going to have to do this exercise all over again. So there's going to be a number. status conference, June 17th. And then this preliminary hearing that we've been talking about May 26th. And as you've been reporting, Jesse, that was supposed to happen back in April. So now

they've pushed that back again. That's going to be June 29th now. So David Burke was asked, you know, are you okay with that? And he just said, yes, your honor, and that he was led back out. Okay. So I have a number of questions about this. There are those who say they wouldn't be surprised that the preliminary hearing was pushed back yet again. I mean, even if you talk about what's been reported, 40 terabytes of evidence, computers, tablets, I cloud. Even in the prosecution's brief, they talk about surveillance footage and cellular data and witnesses and different trips and all these Amazon purchases. It's a big case. And it's one that has been investigated for quite some time. At the same time, Julia, I'm trying to understand.

why this is happening because correct me if I'm wrong. It's the defense who's asking now to have a delay because weren't they the ones who said Blair Burke, his attorney was pushing for a speedy preliminary hearing as soon as possible and it was the idea we're going to challenge the prosecution's evidence. We're going to chat because in a preliminary hearing so everybody knows, right, the prosecution has to present not their whole case but sufficient evidence to establish probable cause, low standard, but say, hey, we got enough here. to support these charges, to move forward towards trial preliminary hearing why it's advantage for the defense is because they can challenge that evidence.

So they wanted the prosecution, hey, we want this a preliminary hearing immediately. We want to see what you got. We want to challenge it. We don't think you have a case here. We don't think he's the cause of Celeste's death. And now, correct me for wrong, are they the ones today in court saying we need a delay? They are. That is correct.

And Jesse, you're absolutely right. This boils down to evidence. So Beth Silverman with the prosecution, she laid out how there is just voluminous evidence here. It totals at this point more than 40 terabytes. I mean, if you think about how much content you probably had saved on your phone, I mean, that's not even close to one terabyte. They have 40 in this case. So Beth said this morning during this hearing, the prosecution started uploading their evidence last Thursday.

And that's part of this case. They have to do that. Sharing that information between both sides, that's part of discovery. So Beth says the prosecution started that last Thursday. They have only uploaded at this point about 10 terabytes out of that 40. And then she went on to say, I actually wrote down this direct quote from Beth Silverman this morning. It could take them months to complete discovery with this much evidence. So now the defense. is pushing back. This is very much part of their strategy. This is not surprising. You know, they would benefit from having more time just to prep their case. So they said the defense, you know, we've requested DNA evidence. We have not gotten that yet. They also said they haven't gotten the witness narratives they were hoping for. So their argument is we need more intel to prep before this can even go to a preliminary hearing. But the point, prosecution, of course, also not surprising. They're pushing back as well. They're saying, you know, is this going to be a real thing? Is June 29th going to be, they called it a go date? Or are we going to

have to go through this again? Push it back again. The judge was very stern about that. She said, you know, we have to be clear. If we're setting the date for June 29th this time, if this is going to be pushed back again at a fourth time now, you know, we have to get that motion. in writing. Beth Silverman says this kind of thing can go on. She's, you know, in her experience, had this kind of thing go back and forth and be delayed for years. The judge saying this morning, she promises this is not going to go on for years. So I think June 17th is going to be a sure thing for this new status conference and then June 29th. Well, here's what's tricky about it. It's prosecutors seemingly, even though there was reports of multiple grand juries, and grand jury could be a way you get an official indictment.

Defense doesn't have a role in it. It's a secret proceeding. You get an indictment. You move forward. If you don't go a grand jury route, and clearly there hasn't been a grand jury indictment, even though there have been reportedly grand juries and paneled to hear evidence in this case, now you have a preliminary hearing. And 100 percent, this is where it gets complicated because the defense has an opportunity to challenge the evidence. It can get pushed back and push back and push back and delayed. And just from a point of law, I'll tell everybody, you know, that's a concern for the prosecution, right? They believe that David committed these alleged crimes. They want justice as soon as possible. They don't want to keep pushing this case along.

Evidence can get stale. Witness testimony could be upended. So it's in their interest, too, to have this preliminary hearing sooner rather than later. And by the way, when you mention DNA evidence, you go back to the prosecution's brief. It says DNA evidence developed from blood stains collected from defendant's garage, which match the victim's genetic profile. So that was interesting. By the way, you mentioned witnesses. Do we have any idea, was it revealed today, any idea who these potential witnesses are?

We don't. That is one of those outstanding questions. And I think, Jesse, you actually did an entire podcast segment dedicated to this question. We don't. And it sounds like part of the defense's strategy to just stall here and buy themselves a little bit more time to prepare during this pretrial period is citing the fact that they don't have any kind of narrative relating to witnesses. They don't know who the possible witnesses might be who could be called for this case. And they don't have DNA evidence. They say they've requested.

But let me tell you what the prosecution did share. They say they have already shared lab reports. They have shared LAPD reports. And they've shared, again, about 10 terabytes of evidence. So if it really is 40 terabytes, that's about 25% here. And I don't know what kind of server they're uploading this to. But again, they started doing this last Thursday. So open-ended question here as to how much longer that's going to take.

But talking to media crews out here, we've all been speculating. You know, there's likely a lot of video content in that 40-terabyte dump. That's typically what takes up the most space. So we already know some of that video involving Celeste and David and their alleged relationship that cannot, that will not be played for the jury if this eventually does go to trial. I'm so glad you mentioned that because as we're understanding what this is. is, I remember in one of the initial hearings, the prosecution said they found a large volume of alleged child pornography on David's devices. Now, they didn't confirm that was 100% Celeste, but let's remember he is charged with a sex crime with respect to her. This alleged illegal

sexual relationship is not only its own individual crime, but it goes to the murder charge. It goes to the special circumstances because if they can prove he was having this relationship with her, didn't want it exposed, wanted to keep her quiet. She was threatened. threatening him. That goes into it. And of course, I mean, there's other digital data. There's cell phone data. There's surveillance footage. By the way, just taking a quick step back, since you're our eyes and ears there, was it a pack courtroom? Like, who else was there? Was there anybody in support of David? Was Nathan Hockman there? The Los Angeles County District Attorney. What was in that courtroom today?

It was largely media this morning. We did look around in the hallway before we even got into the status conference to see if perhaps he was. had any supporters. I know last time during his last court date, David did have at least two friends, two supporters with him. There was no family present this morning. Nobody for either David or Celeste. I think it was just the defendant with his uncut hair, his orange jumpsuit, and then defense attorneys. So it was largely media in the back two rows in this courtroom, prosecution, defense, and it went by very quickly. started within five minutes of 8.30, the scheduled start time, very clear on directions, you know, no cameras, no cell phones, and it wrapped up within about 10 to 15 minutes.

And by the way, what was his interaction like with his defense attorneys? I saw a report, I think, could be wrong, but you'll correct me if I'm wrong. Did he like wink at his defense attorney at one point? What was that interaction like? This is a fascinating human, Jesse. If I ever had an opportunity to interview David, I've got questions for this man. He seems incredibly comfortable sitting there. I think he was resting his elbows on the table at one point.

I mentioned earlier he was listening actively to the back and forth between prosecution and defense. He was looking from attorney to attorney at one point. I think I saw him nodding along. You know, he made eye contact with the judge. He spoke once when he was asked if June 29th would be a go date, a good rescheduled preliminary hearing date for him. He just said, yes, your honor. He spoke clearly.

He did not seem shaken. He did not seem like a defendant being charged with first degree murder. And that's not it. I mean, we're calling this a murder case, but there are two additional. on top of that, including continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and then it's not just murder, it's mutilation of that murder victim's corpse. And I know we haven't delved into this yet today, because we don't yet know if the DA is going to ultimately pursue the death penalty, but that's an

option in this case, because of the special circumstances on top of that murder charge. And I believe, Jesse, in the state of California, you only need one special circumstance to be eligible for the death penalty. In this case, it's not one, it's not two. It is three. And look, there is a moratorium on executions in California, but that's even besides the point. I mean, this goes to this whole idea of if they decide to go that way, it would, you know, prolong the trial, would make it a little bit more complex. But you're talking about the ultimate punishment. Not surprising when you talk about this crime. Yes, he's innocent until proven guilty, 100%, but you were talking about the brutal slaying of a 14-year-old girl who was dismembered and also allegedly sexually abused.

It's a really, really horrific crime. By the way, I have a couple minutes with you, Juliet. You've been following this case, I believe, from the beginning. You've been following quite some time. As you're in that courtroom and you're listening carefully to the discussions that's happening between the attorneys and the judge, what is your biggest questions that you want answered right now? What are you looking out for in terms of the evidence? I mean, thank you for talking about the episode we did on the witnesses. I think that's a crucial discussion, whether or not it's going to be somebody like Neil Langston

or that's going to be David's family or it's going to be the Riverside County Sheriff's deputies or it's going to be the medical examiner or members of the medical examiner's department. I mean, you tell me what you're looking out for, what you're keeping an eye to and here in an eye to as you're in court for these hearings. number one question jesse is what you've been covering extensively who are the witnesses going to be what is their testimony going to entail i think another big question is relating to some of the more definitive language we've seen in the charging documents how do prosecutors know for example that david stood by and watched celeste bleed out my big question is was there

some kind of home surveillance video that captured this? I mean, that wouldn't be out of the question. Many people have cameras in their homes. David was also an individual who was very comfortable around cameras. I mean, he was constantly live streaming, snapping things, recording things. Could there be footage actually showing that acts? And then I also want to point out, you know, the wording of what defense attorneys have said, you know, they're denied. the charges, David has entered a not guilty plea on all of these counts, but they're saying that he was not the cause of her death. That raises the question, who was? You know, could there be somebody else involved? Could somebody else be charged? When I was waiting to get into the courtroom this

morning, I was talking to a couple other journalists covering this case. That's what we're all wondering at this point. Who else may have helps? Who else could have been involved? And what additional cases, what additional charges and defendants could we see coming out of this? I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I think this defendant is going to be one of several as Celeste and her family and her community fight for justice. I'm so glad you mentioned this because it raises a number of different questions. I've talked about it multiple times about, is it possible a 20-year-old singer? The allegations are true. Killed this 14-year-old, took steps to dismember a body and ultimately did it, took that alleged trip to Santa Barbara to hide evidence, sure. But is it also possible he may have had some help?

I asked Nathan Hockman about this on my News Nation show, and he wouldn't obviously confirm one way or another whether they're looking into any other people, there are going to be any other rests. But it also goes to the idea of other charges, if there's child pornography, allegedly on his devices, or you're talking about a minor who was allegedly brought across state lines and their sexual activity. Is there sex trafficking? I did an episode on that too. But you also talk about the cause of death. And I think that one of the complicating factors here is her body was in that Tesla for quite some time.

Decomposed, dismembered. How exactly, I mean, will the defense bring their own forensic pathologist to try to push back and say, how do you know definitively? It was multiple sharp force injuries. Is there something else that might have contributed to this? Do you have evidence of maybe the cleanup and the dismemberment, but not necessarily the murder? And going back to that other point about, you know, how they know she bled out. I'm split on this. I interviewed Joseph Scott Morgan, and he basically said he believes there could be a witness, a witness to this.

He also talked about the surveillance footage. It's also possible they're just making an assumption based on they look at the cell phone data, and they say, well, this is when she arrived, right, by the ride chair. This is when her phone activity stopped. This is when David allegedly sent a text message to her 20 minutes. later to maybe cover up his tracks, maybe create an alibi, and that's why they believe that he stabbed her or allegedly stabbed her and just watched her bleed out because there was no calls to 911 or emergency services. So they might be making a guess here. I have to ask you one more

part about this. You're in L.A. I'm not in L.A. You're in L.A. There has been so much discussion about the coordination, the cooperation between the M.E.'s office, the LAPD, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office as somebody who covers these stories and somebody who's in L.A., whether it's this case or other cases, is there disagreement amongst these different organizations? Are they usually in lockstep? Because there's been so many questions about why there's been a delay and why there's information that's been sealed. No mention of pregnancy in the prosecution's brief. And yet the medical examiner now had to change the update to its, it's the law. not known if she was pregnant. I think they did that for other reasons, but I'm just curious in your experience, what should we be thinking about? And to be clear, when I interviewed Nathan Hockman, he said they're completely lockstep, there's no surprises, they're in it together,

they know what they're doing. I'm just curious your perspective. There is so much to unpack here. There are so many questions, Jesse, about the coordination and the timing. And I think the biggest thing that happened in this case that we don't typically see with charges of this magnitude. I mean, the LAPD made the arrest on what was it, April 16th, and it wasn't until April 20th that charges were filed. So that alone raises questions about the coordination. Why were charges not filed first? Did LAPD do that because they were trying to force the DA's hand?

And if so, what was the holdup? What was taking them so long to investigate when it seems to all of us, like they already had overwhelming evidence. They had probable cause here. So a lot of questions, you know, I don't want to give rise to any additional conspiracy theories. I think everybody on the internet is buzzing about all of this already. But just the facts of the case here, arrest on April 16th, charges not filed until days later. and then now information being changed, I think that part about Celeste not being pregnant

and then that not being able to be definitively determined, that may have something to do with this state of decomposition. But that is one of the questions that I think you've debunked on this podcast. There does not appear to be any definitive evidence pointing to the fact that Celeste was pregnant. If that does emerge at some point, that for sure is going to add additional charges onto what is already a stunning and an incredibly disturbing case against David. Yeah, and that's the final point before we wrap up. I'll say if prosecutors knew that she was pregnant, they would have 100% have included that. I mean, what better way to establish an alleged, a legal sexual relationship to show he needed to allegedly keep her quiet. if you know to take the allegations are true, I mean, proof of pregnancy, they would definitely put that in there.

Now, I will say, it seems to me, yes, because of the decomposition. Perhaps they can't definitively say that. And I think also they have to put unknown considering the prosecutors say there were messages, text messages about pregnancy and Plan B and things like that. So I think the investigative portion of that is what led to it. Julia, thank you so much for taking the time. I really, really appreciate it. I would love to, I would love for you to come back when we have the next hearing now in June, see what happens.

But Julia Dang, thank you so much for taking the time. Great reporting. Thank you, Jesse. Talk soon. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can also check us out on NBC's Peacock as well.

If you want to follow me, X Instagram, my News Nation show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through Friday, 11 p.m. Eastern. See you next time, everybody.