LIVE: D4VD Preliminary Hearing Updates & New Details

[00:00:02]Hello everybody.

[00:00:04]Today's the big day. Um, I've been kind of waiting cuz I knew Oh, Okay. Can you hear me now?

[00:02:11]I don't know what happened. I just unplugged my wireless. Okay. Yes.

[00:02:16]That was sucky. Gosh, why does that have to freaking ruin my stuff all the time?

[00:02:22]I'm so mad because all I did was freaking unplug my headphones from the this.

[00:02:33]I don't know. It It should not have done that. But dang it. Anyway, I'm glad we're here. Sorry about that. Great.

[00:02:42]That's just going to give people uh ammo ammo to like Oh, she's never prepared.

[00:02:46]Blah blah blah. I gotta stop focusing on them. [laughter] I know. Uh, I had my um my plugin uh earphones plugged into the mic cuz I couldn't find my other ones uh earlier, so I just unplugged them when I started the live and it messed up my whole freaking stuff. Okay, so we're back. We're good. Thank you, Sandra, for the gems. Zicki's right here beside me, so if he comes over there, I just I have the thing up because sometimes I'm preoccupied. I don't know when he jumps down if you guys want see my my boy. Um, but anyway, what I was saying is David's first day of preliminary hearing. Um, I kind of waited a few hours after it started just so I could I wanted to wait for the first updates so then we could start off with the first updates, chat about it, and then by that time maybe lunch break will come, we can get more.

[00:03:33]I did order the transcripts, so we'll see about that. Uh, I don't know how long it'll take for those to come in, but you better believe when I get those transcripts, I am going to be reading them. I I'll go live. I won't read them first. I'll go live and we'll read them together. Um, hey Jamie.

[00:03:50]Hey Lyman. Hi Lexi. Hey Kathy. Florida sweetheart.

[00:03:55]Um, Brenda Hill. MJ 100,000. Sandra.

[00:03:59]Okay. So, let's just get into the updates. So, we have um some new updates. Uh, people that were in there for the first break. For some reason, they're not allowing live tweets. A lot of the times for the hearings they'll if you know you can't record it but they will allow like live tweets. I swear so a lot of them you you could still tweet live what's going on I think but maybe I'm wrong about that.

[00:04:24]Uh but this one you're not allowed. Uh so I pulled up some uh Twitter stuff because that's a lot of the times where they go for this stuff. Hey Levitating Elephant. Hey Orlando.

[00:04:36]So that is what we're going to go. Let me share my screen and let's uh do this.

[00:04:39]There's some uh like I said, there are some live updates. Laura Conlin went in.

[00:04:43]Brian Etton's in. Um I heard SF Investigates got in. Sloan's there. Trap more uh Ross. Trap Laura Ross. Uh I heard they all got in the lottery. You know why? I don't think a lot of people went. I You know, like how there's usually a line. For some reason, I don't feel like since it wasn't being recorded, I feel like everybody's just waiting. I I could be wrong, but I don't feel like it was like a huge turnout of people trying to get in. Um I know, right? All right, so let's go over these uh updates here.

[00:05:19]Hold on. Hold on. Let me do one more thing real quick. It's my OCD. I got to do it twice. [laughter] Twice is good enough. I know, guys. I'm sorry. I have to. I just I'm weird.

[00:05:32][laughter] Okay. Oh, Ziki. Um, actually, hold on.

[00:05:36]Let me do it. So, there we go. Um, nope. I'm going to go right there.

[00:05:46]Okay. So, Ziki threw up last night in the room. See, I didn't see it till today. It's I got most I think I got it up as good as I could. It's It's It's in the view of the camera, but I cleaned it really good. But last night I slept with my mom and he threw up in her room too, which I didn't know he threw up in this room until I saw it today and it was all kind of dried so it was harder to get up. But I hope he's doing okay. I worry about him. Okay. Um I know that's what I'm said. That's what I'm thinking. Everybody got in. So it may I'm like there must not have been a big lottery. Okay. So let's go over some of these updates here.

[00:06:22]So, people that were in, like I said, Lauren Conlin, I'm sure if you're following this case, you're aware who she is from LA Times magazine or whatever. Okay, so let's read hers first. So, she said at lunchtime, you know, there's going to be a bunch of stuff. So, that shouldn't be that far from right now, too. Okay, so let me read this first.

[00:06:46]Why am I hearing an echo?

[00:06:54]Oh, shoot. You guys, hold on. Gosh darn it. That's why. Hold on. I gotta reshare it.

[00:07:02]I [snorts] have my things connected to the wrong my AirPods. I was hearing my live on here because my AirPods connected to the wrong freaking thing.

[00:07:15]>> You guys, hold on.

[00:07:18]>> Okay, here we go. Sorry. I'm sorry, guys.

[00:07:23]Now, we should be good to go.

[00:07:25]It's the only thing with AirPods, they're great because they connect, but then sometimes they connect to the wrong things. So, that's that means I have to reshare my screen.

[00:07:35]Okay, here we go. Now, now we're now we're good. Okay, so this is what she writes. I can make it one more bigger if you want me to.

[00:07:46]Okay. She says, remember she was in there. She says, uh, David, preliminary hearing. Court is on a brief recess.

[00:07:55]I'll post a full video update at lunch with everything that happened this morning. For now, here are some of the biggest moments from testimony so far.

[00:08:02]I'm going backwards. Trigger warning.

[00:08:06]The evidence discussed and shown in court is extremely graphic. David appeared in court without handcuffs because remember his uh lawyers were requesting for him to appear without not be cuffed for it. So he appeared in court without handcuffs but remain restrained with a waist chain.

[00:08:21]Throughout the proceedings he appeared calm and relaxed sitting back in his chair as prosecutors displayed graphic crime scene photographs. He kept his eyes fixed on the courtroom monitors and did not appear to look away. Very striking.

[00:08:37]DA Hawkman is sitting in the second row.

[00:08:40]State second witness, LAPD robbery homicide detective Josh Joshua Buyers testified he responded to a Hollywood towyard on September 8th, 2025 after employees reported a strong odor coming from a D black Tesla registered to David Burke. Detective Joshua Buyers testified investigators obtained a search warrant after towyard employees reported the odor inside the Tesla's front trunk.

[00:09:07]They discovered a partially unzipped black body bag containing dismembered human remains.

[00:09:15]They showed all these pictures as I had a hard time looking at the photographs and exhibits shown in court today as did several other reporters. David, however, never appeared to look away, which is very telling. He kept his eyes fixed on the screen for the entire presentation.

[00:09:36]Graphic we and a lot of the times the the people, you know, on trial, they don't want to look at it. I mean, it depends. It depends. If you're a freaking narcissist, those ones want to see it. A lot of the uh murders that maybe they're not, like, they don't even want to see it. They look away. Uh anyway, uh we were shown graphic photographs from inside the Tesla's front trunk depicting the body bag with severed limbs, arms, and legs covered in blood, insect activity, and decomposing. The bags and the body parts were wet and bloody. We saw the bag closed inside of the frunk and then opened on the ground.

[00:10:17]Thank you, Angelina. 30 gems.

[00:10:20]Thank you.

[00:10:25]Thank you. Thank you.

[00:10:28]Um, okay. Detective buyers further test. Oh, he's going to bark.

[00:10:38]Angelina, thank you. Um, okay. So, my mom just opened the garage door.

[00:10:42]Detective buyers further testified the victim's left ring and pinky finger had been amputated along with the right index finger with the sh due to advanced decomposition. He said he could not identify the victim's face because of skin slippage. First state witness. The prosecution's first witness, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Senior Deputy Juan Gonzalez, testified he responded to David Burke's home on February 17th, 2024 to conduct a welfare check after Riverside County investigators reported a 13-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez missing.

[00:11:26]Deputy Juan Gonzalez testified David Burke told him he met Celeste through social media and Discord in 2020 or 2021.

[00:11:37]He had only met her once in person and believed she was 18 years old because she told me she was 18.

[00:11:46]Alrighty, David. All righty. So, hold on. Forgot to check this real quick.

[00:11:58]All right. I just want to make sure I had all the settings. Okay. Um, man, Deputy Gonzalez testified Burke told investigators the last time he spoke with Celeste was February 13th, 2024.

[00:12:12]And the last time he saw her was November 12th, 2023, which is such a lie, dude. I hope they have the stuff from the uh Fonda. Like that's a clear picture. They have the video with David Burke and Caleb or Celeste and his brother Caleb backstage.

[00:12:32]They have that clear picture of her backstage. What is his parents going to lie and say she wasn't there cuz she was sitting by him? At least his mom. Like he is right there when they show that he's lying about this stuff. That that makes like red flag. Red flag. Wow. So, he's saying the last time was November 12th, 2023, and the last time he talked to her was fe February 13th, 2024. Burke also showed deputies a sixth grade yearbook photo of Celeste in a missing person flyer during the welfare check, which I don't know like why did he show that part confuses me. Like they're saying that, and I had to reread that cuz I'm like, wait, they're saying that David showed deputies a sixth grade yearbook photo of Celeste in a missing person flyer during the welfare check.

[00:13:20]Of note, Celeste looked about 11 years old in the yearbook photo David had, and she was wearing a Batman sweatshirt.

[00:13:28]Deputies searched Burke's Dohane's drive home with his consent while looking for Celeste. Gonzalez testified he noticed some Hello Kitty items, but said Burke explained it was an artist house where other people frequently stayed.

[00:13:47]Body camera footage shown in court captured Burke telling deputies, "She told me she's 18, but everyone is saying she's 13." While providing Celeste's phone number and discussing how they met. During cross- exam, Burke's attorney, Regina Peter, emphasized that Burke was cooperative, voluntarily provided Celeste's information. Yeah, but it was all lies. Yeah, sure, he was cooperative, but he it was all lies. The evidence can show he was lying about all that stuff, but sure. Anyway, and repeatedly stated he believed she was 18 years old. On redirect, prosecutors asked whether Burke ever told deputies he had been in a sexual relationship with Celeste or helped her leave her home.

[00:14:30]As the defense was insinuating, he had been cooperative with officers and told the truth.

[00:14:37]Defense attorneys objected before the questions were answered and the judge sustained the objection. More later, which I cannot wait till we get more.

[00:14:45]Okay. And then we have I'm just looking to see if there's any interesting comments. There's a couple more updates that people there. Uh, and then this is going to be kind of live though. Once I read all the current updates, then we're going to be kind of live just finding stuff as we go cuz >> Hey guys, I'm outside the courthouse in Los Angeles. There was a break now in the David hearing. Uh, we knew that it was going to be gruesome. There were a lot of details we hadn't heard about yet. and and it is uh they've been showing pictures from after they found Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body when it was taken out of the trunk allegedly of of David's trunk. Her family is in the courtroom so you can imagine. I mean they've been emotional looking at these pictures. Some of these details are hard to talk about, but they talk about two severed arms, two legs, a severed kneecap, um all in the front trunk of the of the Tesla. Uh just looking back at the notes here. Um they noticed in the right hand a tattoo that said shh and on the left and pinky finger was removed that it was cut off. They said um found in a black trash bag. A left hand was found in a black trash bag with two fingers severed. Uh and they could not see a face. They said the question was when she was removed from the trunk, could you see a face? And the detective said no. there was quite a bit of decomposition and skin slippage, so it was unrecognizable. So, it it's difficult to listen to all this stuff.

[00:16:22]And again, the family's in there, so um yeah, we're not allowed to report the details of what's happening until there's a break and there was just a break. So, I'll keep you guys posted.

[00:16:32]>> Okay. And then we have Hi, I'm Taylor with Los Angeles Magazine here today at the Clarage Shortidge Folks Courthouse.

[00:16:39]Today it is the first day of David Anthony Burke's preliminary hearing who is accused of the murder of Celeste Grievous Hernandez. We have a lot of press outside as well as Lauren Conlin from Los Angeles magazine upstairs in the courtroom now. She will be getting all the details live and we will reporting them to you as soon as we know them over on X. But for right now, I caught up with Steve Fischer from SF Investigates who worked on this case to find out a little bit more about what we should expect today. And I also saw him have a tiff with the prosecutor, so I asked him about that.

[00:17:11]>> It'll be kind of a slow start, I think.

[00:17:12]Uh the detectives, you know, will probably be called first and they have to lay the foundation of all the evidence. So they're not going to jump right into to the really, you know, awful parts, but they will, you know, the way the foundation of how Celeste and and David met and how that relationship evolved and and um you know, how it got to where it did.

[00:17:36]>> You had a little interaction with Beth Silverman, outside of the courtroom today. Can you speak a little bit about what happened?

[00:17:42]>> Yeah, so um Beth Silverman, uh is not a fan of mine. Um, more of that I think will come out um as transcripts are released from grand juries and whatnot. Maybe the reason why I she does not like the fact that I have kept the story. I've tried to keep it in the media. Um while nothing seemed to be happening and this is before crunch troops were going on and what happened in the hallway which really kind of shocked me as uh the attorney family attorney for Celeste uh family he came up and introduced himself. I didn't know um I didn't know who he was. I never met him. And um he uh took me aside and you know we had a few nice words and he thanked me for um uh advocating for uh Celeste and that Silverman walked by and heard that and uh actually grabbed him and told him she was not allowed to talk that he was not allowed to talk to me um and pulled him away. and and that's really bizarre uh from a district attorney to say that uh an attorney from the family is not allowed to talk to me.

[00:18:59]It's really I don't I don't understand why that happened or the legalities around that. But she pulled him away and and said right in front of in front of you too, but in front of a lot of people, you're not allowed to talk to him, not talk to him. And uh >> and we will be giving you updates on this case throughout the day over on X.

[00:19:18]So, you can follow me at Taylor Parice and you can follow Lauren at Conland Lauren.

[00:19:24]>> Okay, I missed who who was it? Who was the guy? I missed it cuz I was looking at something on here. Who did he say that went up and said, "Thank you for advocating for Celeste." I know he said the prosecutor, Beth Silverman's like, "You can't talk to him." That's crazy.

[00:19:37]But who was it that he was talking to?

[00:19:39]Can somebody help me so I don't have to uh replay it? Yes, that's the private investigator.

[00:19:46]Uh, but I wonder help me out. Or I guess I could play it again, but let me know. I missed who it was.

[00:19:59]No, I know. SF Investigates. I'm saying I'm saying who was who went up to SF Investigates and said, "Hey, thanks for advocating for Celeste." And then of course Beth pulled him away. Who was it that went up to him? No, you're not understanding. I Let me play it again. I know that's Steve Fischer. That's Steve Fischer that's talking. I'm saying who did he say went up to him and said, "Hey, thanks for advocating for Celeste." That's what I'm trying to figure out, guys. Okay, let me let me go back. Was it the family's attorney?

[00:20:31]But wait, if that's the family's attorney, why would the prosecutor have any say over what the family's attorney does?

[00:20:38]I could see if it was a part of her team.

[00:20:44]What?

[00:20:46]That's kind of odd.

[00:20:49]She shouldn't have any say over that.

[00:20:51]I'm not saying like I agree with I mean, you know, guys know how I feel about SF, but um I got I'll call it when I call it. Like I'm not going to just all the you know, I'm going to say what's right. And that doesn't seem right. That's crazy.

[00:21:10]Wow.

[00:21:14]Wow. Okay, let's see what else is going on. That's messed up. Kind of. I mean, not kind of. It is a lot. Let's look at TMZ. What they got here? [snorts] And you know, a lot of people it'll be a lot of repeats, but they're a lot of times it'll always be like one little new thing that you'll catch for each of these reporting because they're in there hearing a couple hours worth of stuff.

[00:21:35]You could only write down so much. So, we're going to go over all that we could find of people that were here.

[00:21:56]Why my thing keeps muting me?

[00:22:01]Dang it.

[00:22:05]Okay, I'm here. I don't know why it keeps doing that, but we're back. We're back.

[00:22:16]Okay, you guys can hear me now. Sorry about that. I don't know why it keeps un that mute me that muted me again. Okay, so it's been happening a lot. I don't know if it's my mic. I mean, this is kind of a new mic. It is a new mic in the last year. Okay, here we go. Um, so this says, "Family was warned to put their heads down as gruesome photos of the teens remain were sh remains were shown in court, but they refused to look away.

[00:22:48]Prosecutor Beth Silverman gave the family a heads up during the first day of the David's preliminary hearing before displaying images of Celeste severed arms and legs inside the front trunk of the Tesla." An investigator testified the limbs were found in the back in a black cadaavver bag and another bag contained Celeste head and torso. The investigator also described maggots, flies, and unidentified liquid inside the vehicle. They should Oh, I just at one point, Silverman appeared to mouth you. Okay. Towards Celeste family, who continued watching as photos showed the teen's sh finger tattoo, two amputated fingers, and a blue pla and blue plastic fragments embedded in her severed body. People in the courtroom audibly sighed as evidence was displayed while David also looked at the photos.

[00:23:42]Here's a picture of I think that's her mom and dad. Yeah, this what it looks like to me. Um, Celeste's parents. Yeah.

[00:23:50]Jesus Rivas and Mercedes Martinez were seen holding hands as they arrived at the downtown LA courthouse Tuesday morning looking solemn.

[00:24:00]As TMZ reported, David asked the judge to let him ditch the handcuffs during the hearing and he got at least part of his wish appearing without handcuffs his wrists on his wrist, though he remained shackled around his waist. Prosecutors alleged David's real name, David Anthony Burke, killed 14-year-old Celeste inside his Hollywood Hills home in April 2025, dismembered her remains in his test in his Tesla. Her body was discovered months later after the car was towed to the Hollywood lot. He's pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, continuous essay of a child under 14, and an unlawful mutilation of human remains. The judge will ultimately decide whether there's enough evidence to send him to trial. Um, so that is what we are seeing to see is there enough evidence. That's what this is all about.

[00:24:51]Here's another thing on preliminary hearing begins today. Over the course of this week, the prosecution will presenting an avalanche of evidence in court as they try to convince a judge there's enough to warrant a murder trial. Expected to get graphic.

[00:25:11]proceedings are finally getting underway in a few days back in April. Okay. Uh let's see. That's basically saying uh they say that this is what we're going to it'll be interesting to see what evidence the prosecution has. They say that they have DNA evidence, surveillance footage, text messages, phone records, but they've already laid out some of it in court documents claiming that David and Celeste began a sexual relationship when she was 13.

[00:25:38]And prosecutors claim Celeste threatened to expose their relationship and ruin his music career. And he invited her to his Hollywood home, Hollywood Hills home, and murdered her before cutting up with a chainsaw he bought online, placing the body in an inflatable pool and cutting off her limbs and stuffed her remains in two body bags of placed in the front trunk of his Tesla. Okay. So, yeah. I mean, I get it when the jury because, you know, for the jury, I get for the jury trial to not, you know, to take off the handcuffs and let them dress in regular clothes cuz that is something that they allow. But for this, it's not no jury. Not no, sorry, I don't know why you worded it like that, but it isn't. So, but I guess maybe it's going to be a long process to be more comfortable. But I know I know what everybody's thinking. Why should he get to be more comfortable? Well, I mean, look what he did to Celeste. So, I don't know. I mean, all right, let's see what else we got here.

[00:26:47]All right, I'm going to go to I have Let's see if she has anything up yet. Lauren, I don't know. No, it's not probably quite lunch, but you know what?

[00:26:58]I'm going to go to I know Salone did uh a live.

[00:27:07]I don't watch S a whole bunch, but I do once in a while when he covers a a case that I'm covering or I'm into. Uh and he does do a good job like when I watch him. Let's see.

[00:27:20]I swear I seen one of him. Uh where did he do that?

[00:27:25]Oh, he probably did it on Twitter. Okay, hold on one second, guys.

[00:27:34]And I figured, you know what? If we're waiting, you know what I could do?

[00:27:42]Huh?

[00:27:45]There we go. I wanted to be in that order. Okay, so let me um look up some stuff here. One second.

[00:27:57]Oh, here we go.

[00:28:01]Check this out.

[00:28:05]Says, uh, LA County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman spoke following the first half of the day, one of Singer David's preliminary hearing on the whatever outlining how the following week will unfold. Okay.

[00:28:21]>> My name is Nathan Hawkman. I'm the Los Angeles County District Attorney. Today starts the day of the preliminary hearing of David Anthony Burke, the singer David spelled D4B DD. This preliminary hearing will last approximately 3 to 5 days, in which point the uh we will be seeking to hold David to answer for three felony counts of which he has been charged.

[00:28:46]First-degree murder with special circumstances.

[00:28:50]uh the count of loot and lascivious acts with a 13-year-old and the count of mutilation of human remains. David will be facing a maximum punishment of life without the possibility of parole or he is also death penalty eligible. The decision on whether or not to seek the death penalty has not been made at this point. Now, the point of a preliminary hearing is somewhat different than you actually perceive in the media, whether it's TV or the movies, because what often happens in TV or the movies is you go from an immediate uh arrest into a trial. But in our system and and in California in particular, you have an intermediate step. That intermediate step is a preliminary hearing where effectively the prosecution's evidence is going to be tested before a judge, not a jury. The standard that we have to meet is not beyond a reasonable doubt at the preliminary hearing stage. It is it is probable cause. We are not obligated, nor will we be presenting all the evidence at a preliminary hearing that we will be presenting at a trial to prove David beyond a reasonable doubt guilty of the three felony charges of which he has been charged. So, at the preliminary hearing, we will call a number of officers. We estimate there will be over 10 different witnesses, both officer testimony, coroner testimony, and there will be individual witnesses as well. And again, we can rely on hearsay and other things that won't be allowed to be relied on in an actual trial. The judge at the end of the presentation of the evidence and again this is evidence that can be cross-examined by a defense attorney and that has already that process has already been done. At the end of the presentation of all this evidence, the question will be will David be held to answer on the three felony charges. We believe we will more than accomplish the evidentiary burden of probable cause at this point to hold David to answer on these three felony charges. At that point, if the judge does hold him to answer, we will file an information that will detail the the the actual three criminal charges. Thereafter, there will be a trial date that will be set and David, if he so chooses, will proceed to trial and we will prove at that point beyond a reasonable doubt that David committed these three crimes.

[00:31:22]And when we do not predict if, when he is convicted, we will then be seeking the sentence that we are allowed to seek by order of law. And we will let you know in a future date whether or not that sentence will also include the death penalty. So, I wanted to take this opportunity as we're starting this preliminary hearing process to explain where the preliminary hearing fits in the process so people can understand as we are presenting evidence and it is being cross-examined what ultimately the standard is for the judge to determine that that's probable cause not beyond a reasonable doubt. It is a judge that is doing this determination, not a jury at this point. and that there will subsequently be a trial when the judge holds David to answer on these three felony charges when this uh preliminary hearing is over.

[00:32:17]Okay, now let me play.

[00:32:23]What's this? Well, I'm not sure if I'm going to play this yet. I have another thing.

[00:32:28]>> Monsuno weather than yesterday.

[00:32:31]Hold on, guys. I found Salone stuff that I want to play, but I just want to look at this real quick to see if there's no Okay, so let's do Salones his updates here.

[00:32:52][snorts] All right, let's see.

[00:32:55]Oh, he's all dressed up for court. Ready or not, David, here I come. He says, "Yeah, you creep."

[00:33:11]All right, let's see.

[00:33:16]Inside of the courthouse for the David preliminary hearing today for the David case, David Burke, D4 VD. You guys may remember he killed Celeste Rivz. And today we have the preliminary hearing, which is when prosecutors come together and they present a bunch of evidence, maybe even evidence we haven't seen yet to the judge so the judge can decide if this can go to trial. So we don't have a jury or anything today. Actually, when it comes to his charges, I like to think of it in like three different buckets.

[00:33:43]We've got the before, the during, and the after. He's being charged for before his inappropriate relationship with a teenager and collecting that inappropriate content of her. He's got the during the the killing him, you know, luring her to his Hollywood Hills home and unaliviving her. And then we've got the after, which is the mutilation and things like that. So, these are the three main charges that that [sighs] the judge is going to be hearing today and it's not guaranteed that I'll be getting in. There's a lottery system, so we will have to see if I make it in. Please manifest I get in there because I really want to look at him straight in the eyes. So, it looks like Okay, guys. So, I was one of the 10 people that were allowed to go into the courthouse, and we've seen some pretty disturbing things so far. I mean, the attorneys are kind of going at each other. Essentially, we've had two witnesses so far. We had the police officer who did a check in on a welfare check on Celeste at David's home. She was not there. And then we've had another detective. He's a homicide detective, and he's the one who uncovered the vehicle, like the Tesla with the bags in it. And guys, we saw pictures of her body. Um, there were there was a photograph of her knee at one like her knee cap and it had all these like blue pieces of plastic in it from the chainsaw. I also saw her body in the Tesla with her head and her arms cut off. It was so graphic and it's really upsetting. Actually, Celeste's father and mother and sister are all sitting in front of me and it just is so hard to go through this evidence and to see like them trying to like hide themselves from it to see these images of their daughter that they would never imagine. It just truly shows how evil David is. And he's so he can care less.

[00:35:20]The guy is chilling inside there. So, um I'm taking tons of notes. As soon as we get a longer recess, I will go and maybe go live or make a video and go through everything we have so far. But yeah, we've seen several images of the bags of the body. And it's really horrific. I have no idea how David's lawyer's going to try to weasle out of this one. I'll keep you guys up to date. So, so far two witnesses, this officer named Juan who did the welfare check and this other guy named Josh Buyers who is the detective and we've gone through the evidence of the god her body in the truck. You could see all these like maggots and flies and things like that. It's just really graphic stuff. But I will be here to update you guys on what else happens next. Okay guys, so I so we are on break right now. I'm going to give you guys some updates. I've been taking so many notes. Let's start at the beginning. So David's lawyer walked in and I was surprised at how smiley she was. She was like laughing, smiling. David, when he came out, I mean, he seemed pretty happy as well. But um Beth Silverman, she's the attorney who was prosecuting David and um she came in in a red power suit.

[00:36:25]She was not here to play. And immediately David's lawyer um Blair Burke asked for the shackles to be taken off. The judge ultimately said the shackles will not be taken off. if they will remove the handcuffs from him, but uh David Toy was trying to say that it was like inhumane that he was in these shackles. So, there are two CDs that we were able to watch today or not one yet.

[00:36:44]There's one we're going to watch after break, but there's a 10-minute video.

[00:36:47]It's the body cam footage. So, this officer named Juan was called to go and do a welfare check on February 17th, 2024. He came there, and we could see the full video of him and his partner, uh Deputy Thomas, go in and they asked David like, "Where is Celeste?" and things like that. Uh, David kind of starts oversharing a little bit there.

[00:37:05]He says, "Oh, I've got beer in the fridge." And things like that because he is underage here. And the cop's like, "I'm just trying to find where Celeste is at." Even freakier is that David started showing some pictures to the officer, Juan. And started to showing pictures of her and her yearbook and things like that. There was a moment where the officer said like, "Oh, like she looks like 13 or whatever." Because at this point, David said that he was told by her that she was 18 years old.

[00:37:27]thing I really loved was whenever um Beth, the prosecutor, asked him if he thought that David was being cooperative because >> the officer said, "Yeah, David was being cooperative." But cooperative to what point? Because he was literally lying.

[00:37:39]Um I'm going to go ahead and end this video and then we can get into some of the pictures. I actually drew some.

[00:37:43]Okay, so we are on break right now. I'm going to give you guys some updates.

[00:37:46]I've been taking so many.

[00:37:48]>> Right. Great minds think alike. No, that's exactly what I said. Yeah, cooperative. But he's lying. So that's not cooperative. He lying about all that stuff. So don't call that cooperative, okay? That's bull crap. Oh, he's being cooperative because he's talking a bunch of lies. Sorry. Cooperative would be telling the truth. And you know what I'm saying? Telling the truth and and and speaking with him, the communication being open. So whatever, dude.

[00:38:14]Oh, I have to switch my thing. Okay, so let's there's more.

[00:38:18]>> Now, let's talk about Detective Josh Buyers. So he was the detective who's called to the towyard the date that the vehicle was recovered. and he's gotten us so much information. This guy is the guy that knows everything. He's got all the surveillance and stuff. So, pretty much on September 3rd, the car was sent to the impound lot. It was towed on the third. And this is where we get into some of the graphic pictures. I'm sorry, guys. So, one of the photos we saw, this was exhibit uh 15, I believe, and it was a picture of a like it was a picture like this, and this is like the black trash bag, and there's blue um ropes here. It was a tied trash bag. And pretty much all you could see in the background was like kind of a red and maggots everywhere. You could see maggots and bugs and larvae. Actually, what was interesting is Josh the detective said that um you could see like the life cycle has happened with these organisms. And then this is the most graphic picture. Of course, these are drawings, but there's one of where you can see her body with her head and like her arms are gone and it looks like she's face down, but it's so um she's so what's it called? Deteriorated that you couldn't really see. but her head was down here and it almost looked like she had a strap type of thing here. Um, the color of her This is so hard to talk about. It was actually so upsetting too because I'm sitting right by the parents and I'm hearing all this stuff and I'm seeing the parents react and it makes me want to cry. Like at what point the judge or like the the attorney said like Celeste's full name is Celeste Abigail Rivas Hernandez and um her mom just starts sobbing and it is hard being here. Um, it looks like, look, there's a bunch of attorneys and stuff over there.

[00:39:52]I don't know. They're all doing their own thing. Okay. So, then that photo showed like kind of her head and her body. This one was another bag and you can kind of see the limbs were put into there. The arms were put into there and um I guess the limbs were cut around the knees. So disturbing. Um, and then there was another photograph. So then they wanted to show the fragments of plastic.

[00:40:13]And there were a bunch of fragments within the actual flesh. a lot of blue pieces which I believe comes from the chainsaw that he had used. So there was like they had a right kneecap that had a bunch of pictures that they had showed us. We also saw her hands because one of her hands had two fingers removed assuming because David had a tattoo of his name on one of those fingers. The one finger that you did see, you could see the sh tattoo that she had which matched David's. Now let's talk about detective Josh Buyers. So he was the detective who was called to the towyard the day. Okay, so that's just repeating.

[00:40:44]Um, dang it, dude. I swear.

[00:40:49]I swear. Okay, hold on. I'm trying to look for something real quick.

[00:41:02]What do you guys think so far? Um, lunch will be coming soon, I'm sure, and we'll get uh more updates on that. So, let's just uh find some other stuff to discuss. I was thinking about actually maybe going over some of the um Discord, reading some of that while we're waiting. What do you guys want to do?

[00:41:25]I'm I'm constantly though checking to see if there's any other updates. So, hold on one second.

[00:41:34]Uh go to link tree. Why is it not Hold on one second, guys.

[00:41:45]Oh, wait. Here we go. Instagram. Let's see if she has anything on Instagram.

[00:41:51]Huh?

[00:41:56]She doesn't. I'm looking at Lauren Conlin and see if she has anything on any of her other uh stuff platforms real quick just to make sure we don't miss anything.

[00:42:15]Oh, there's Instagram.

[00:42:18]Yeah, it doesn't look like she does.

[00:42:23]Okay.

[00:42:29]Let me see what chat's doing. Let's talk with chat for a minute. Let me take this down for a minute. Okay. Um I really hope I'm able to get the transcript so we can read them. And I just don't know if it's going to be like are we going to get them like right away or are we going to have to wait? That's what I'm not sure. Um all right, let's see if there's anything. Somebody said that Mark, let's see. Let me find that really quick.

[00:43:00]Oh, Brian though, he had hold on. He had something else on YouTube. So, I don't know if this is the same exact thing that we watched on uh Twitter or X or if there's something added extra. So, let me play it. And >> hey, guys. Uh, so >> let's see if there's anything extra on this. I'm >> outside the courthouse here in Los Angeles. Um, you can see all the cameras are are outside for the hearing for David, the preliminary hearing, which is set to start here in a little while and last several days. A lot of new evidence expected to come out because there's been a lot of secrecy in this case, especially involving the medical examiner report. Um, I did get a ticket to go inside. It was quite a process.

[00:43:37]Had to get here at 7:00 a.m. Uh, and then they basically have like a lottery.

[00:43:41]So, everybody gets uh everybody that wants to go inside gets a little ticket.

[00:43:45]Um, and then they put them in like one of those little things where they uh move it around and then they draw the the numbers and I just got lucky. I think they called like 10 people. Uh, so I'll keep you guys posted. There's no cameras allowed in court. There's no live transmitting allowed. So like no live tweeting or anything. So information will only be able to come out during breaks. Um, so one of my producers is is going to go in too. Um, and I will be on NewsNation and I'll have like a podcast with a full update from the day kind of with everything that happens like really really detailed notes. Uh, so David of course by the way for those of you guys who haven't been following the singer accused of killing um, Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Really really sad case. It's kind of interesting being at this courthouse in LA by the way just cuz it's like had so many big cases. OJ Michael Jackson. I've actually never covered a story here before. So all right, talk to you guys later. Hey guys. So, this popped up when I was looking for David's stuff, which Oh, that's who that is. Let me play this because I don't know if I've seen this.

[00:44:47]It's uh Shayon Kada Sharon. Am I saying that right? Um let's see. It's called David Bestie Cotton. Disturbing video about uh Asia. Let's check it out.

[00:44:59]>> David's ex.

[00:45:00]>> I have not seen this yet. I've been busy with that CERS case that I haven't been really Oh my god. This whole time I didn't have it shared.

[00:45:10]Wow, I'm an idiot. Did I not have it shared this whole time?

[00:45:15]Oh, thank you, Kelly. And thank you, Secrets Forest.

[00:45:20]I'm an idiot. I should have looked. You guys could still hear it, right? Oh my lord.

[00:45:30]You guys are just staring at me.

[00:45:33]Dang it.

[00:45:36]Let me see if you could hear it still.

[00:45:40]I'm sorry, guys.

[00:45:51]>> Oh, you guys could still hear it. It was just Brian. Good thing you guys could still hear it. Okay, so I'm going to play this video. I apologize for that.

[00:45:59]Um, I got to get used to this these new um setups here. Okay, but thank you. Uh, thank you, Secret Forest, Cat Mouse, Kelly Bennett. Thank you being me again.

[00:46:13]Thank you.

[00:46:15]What does the uncle alert mean though?

[00:46:17]Am I I'm Sometimes I'm a little behind on stuff. What does that mean, uncle?

[00:46:22]And thank you again, fortune cookie.

[00:46:25]Thank you, gold coin.

[00:46:28]Oh, I see.

[00:46:31]Finger heart. Oh, so they already they I kind of they're it's like a pre thing.

[00:46:38]That's Anyway, let's watch to see what she says.

[00:46:41]>> Best friend Asia just came out last week to denounce David after getting kicked out of an influencer party just for some old videos to resurface that are very controversial. And girl, I got some questions for you. And I know y'all have been waiting for me to talk about this.

[00:46:57]I've seen all the tags and the way that Asia talks in this video, I do think it's joking, but it's absolutely disgusting. She's literally talking about getting with minors and when they snitch to, you know, the same exact thing that David is being accused of.

[00:47:11]And you know me, I like to dig. So, after I was getting tagged, I went and I actually found the full video of this stream where she is saying these things.

[00:47:19]And this was uploaded on July 15th of 2025. So, Celeste was already gone, but this is right before she's found in David's Tesla. be low about it.

[00:47:27]>> I'm just hoping like we're at an arcade.

[00:47:28]I hope I don't get a min or something, bro. Like, no.

[00:47:30]>> You got to ask the age first.

[00:47:32]>> No, you never ask the age.

[00:47:37][laughter] >> You always just got to gamble. You got to find out later after you go >> after uh >> just got to gamble your life.

[00:47:46]>> It's not That's not I'm trying to prepping to see whose number I'm going to get. Like who's who's going to be down for me?

[00:48:04]>> I cannot.

[00:48:05]>> No, bro. Stop. I'm not talking to miners today.

[00:48:10]>> Today on a good day. What about a bad day?

[00:48:30]>> [music] >> No [ __ ] [ __ ] [ __ ] I'm going to have to ask a child out. I'm going to have to ask a child out. What the >> really trying to understand as someone that was just on the internet literally a week ago claiming how it was horrible that David was with a minor and you wouldn't stand for this and you went right to David and you were like, "You better not be with a 13-year-old. Show me proof. You think it's okay to joke like this?" Actually hear her talking like this. It It's disgusting. It's ridiculous. It's ignorant. Like there's nothing even funny about this. Like so I don't understand why she thinks that that was okay. already had my thoughts on Asia since the beginning of this. I even said this when I covered her video last week. Like, Asia has been all over the place since the beginning of this.

[00:49:18]First, she kept saying that she didn't even know Celeste when we all saw the email that she got of Celeste's missing poster, but it took her getting kicked out of a streamer party to finally come out and say something. I'm literally not kidding. It was a long video and half of it was like, "Feel sorry for me. Feel sorry for me." Like I said, even though I didn't agree with that, I do think that now Asia will be a crucial piece in the trial if it makes it there with David because of what she knows. When she said she has been talking to investigators, I do believe that I think that if they went after some of David's friends like Neo, they definitely went after Asia because you guys can't forget Asia was also there right before David's tour ended and he canceled it when Celeste was found and IDed. can recognize how important something like that is. But at the same time, I am not somebody to stick up for ignorant behavior. At this point, girl, you're so dense. And my only hope out of all of this is that if Asia is asked to testify, another update court on lunch. So, we're going to be getting more updates. Let's do it. Here we go. We got a Brian. So, um, look at this.

[00:50:25]>> Hey guys. Uh, so I'm outside the David hearing. There's just a break.

[00:50:29]>> Hold on. I want to read this because remember that girl that was attacking me about the that live I did about the flight tickets, the airline tickets.

[00:50:37]Look at this. Another update from David's preliminary hearing. Discussion about David buying airline tickets for him and Celeste to London and Texas. And more details on the Tesla where Celeste remains were found. Dismembered. Court on break now for lunch. Okay, so there's going to be new updates. Let's do it.

[00:50:56]Isa, are you here?

[00:51:01]I just curious because, you know, I feel like I think it's I think it's there's more check marks of that flight information being true, but let's see here. Okay, here we go.

[00:51:15]>> Hey guys. Uh, so I'm outside the David hearing. Uh, there's just a break now for lunch. Going to give you guys an update on what happened. There's no cameras or anything allowed inside, so I wanted to give you guys the uh the notes. Um, so basically they talked about the Tesla, of course, the Tesla that prosecutors say, uh, Celeste Celeste Rivas Hernandez, her body was found in the front trunk. They talked about specifics about how it was left on a street um, in the Hollywood Hills, later ticketed and impounded and towed on September 5th, uh, 2025. Um, the detective was able to get a download of all the data connected to an iPhone 16, which David had named, uh, Tranquilizer.

[00:51:50]They say that was the name of his iPhone Tranquilizer. Uh but they were never able to find the phone. They did find navigation searches to Santa Barbara and um uh Sanz Valley, but uh they don't know, they haven't said why, but they said they were significant for some reason. Uh the detective says they were called to the impound lot on September 8th, testified that there were media helicopters. Uh Celeste's father called LAPD and said that he believed the body discovered in the Tesla belonged to his daughter. Uh the prosecutor asked that given the condition of the body, the detective asked the father for Celeste dental records. Uh Celeste's mother started to cry. I mean, you can imagine how hard it is for her parents being in the courtroom for this. Uh they talked about dental records. They executed a search warrant at David's house, collected more devices, including an iPhone 15, which they belonged uh that they say belonged to David in a tower computer. Um they say that they found that he purchased tickets on United Airlines for both him and Celeste to Texas and London, England. There was no date established for the trial, but this is significant because this connects David to Celeste. They say he bought tickets for them to go to London and United Airlines. Remember, she's just a teenager. Um and uh they also found an unopened Amazon box purchase purchased under an alias Victoria Mendes, which they say they later determined to be David. Uh, and the box was what the detective called a burn box, a mini crematorium used to burn items to nothing. And they showed a photo. So, it's been very graphic so far. Uh, so they're on lunch now. I'll keep you guys posted what happens this afternoon.

[00:53:25]>> Wow.

[00:53:29]Okay, hold on one second. Um, I'm just seeing what else we have here.

[00:53:39]Okay. So, let's see if if uh what's his name did any updates.

[00:53:50]I'm sure they're coming. It's lunchtime.

[00:53:53]So, dang, man. That's crazy. So, the the flight that is huge, especially if the dates are after he said the last time he seen her was in 2023. If that flight information was true that I went over that came out the other day, then that was 2024.

[00:54:15]Oh, you're David, you are going down.

[00:54:21]All right, let me see if there's any other updates. Wow.

[00:54:25]Uh, yeah. So, they said it connected to the iPhone 16 that's named Tranquilizer.

[00:54:31]couldn't find the phone but couldn't like what kind of information was on it.

[00:54:38]Do I need to listen to that again or it didn't really say exact stuff, right?

[00:54:42]Feel like I might have to listen to that again to hear what he said it the phone what information did the phone give him.

[00:54:49]Let me see if there's anything else.

[00:54:50]Okay, so we have Hold on. I'm just seeing um who's live. Hold on. Give me one minute. One minute.

[00:55:07]Extensive quote.

[00:55:11]Let's see what this is.

[00:55:16]It doesn't look like Lauren Conlin did did one yet. I'm still looking to see because she said a video coming out. So, I think give it a few minutes. Uh it might come.

[00:55:27]Okay, let's see what this is.

[00:55:40]Hold on.

[00:55:44]Oh, sorry. I keep looking at for a bunch of stuff to see. All right, let me look again.

[00:55:58]Oh, let's see if TMZ did an update for lunch.

[00:56:11]Stupid ads.

[00:56:18]All right, let's type in Oh, shoot.

[00:56:25]We already saw that. Okay.

[00:56:30]I keep updating everything to see what we got. If not, we could even watch other videos, you know, just stuff from uh about the case. But right now, since I know they're on break, I keep I'm searching for updates on it. Hold on.

[00:56:46]I'm not finding Laura doing an update.

[00:56:56]Okay, let's see what this is. This says what?

[00:57:18]Oh, that sucks. So, this is Gucci Mane Stowe. Justin David is currently at his preliminary hearing. Here are some gruesome details we know so far. Uh, breaking news. David preliminary day one court and recess. Here's what happened.

[00:57:32]David appeared in court. No handcuffs, but restrained by a waste. He remained calmed. He remained calm throughout.

[00:57:39]Eyes fixed on the monitors during gruesome evidence. Deputy testified.

[00:57:43]Burke claimed he believed Celeste was 18 per body cam footage. Detective testified her remains were found in the Tesla at a towyard. Defense emphasized Burke's cooperation with investigators.

[00:57:54]Evidence presented in court was graphic.

[00:57:55]Will everyone had a hard time looking at the pictures.

[00:58:02]Recess test.

[00:58:11]This is the Yeah.

[00:58:19]Oh, here we go. She's here now. Let's do it. Let's hear. Let's hear. Good. This is what I was waiting for because she seems to be doing really good.

[00:58:30]>> Okay, here we go.

[00:58:34]Oh, hold on. It muted for some reason.

[00:58:37]Okay, it is day one, lunchtime at the David preliminary hearings in Los Angeles. And I'm going to give you a recap of the morning. I'm going to try to do it within 10 minutes. And uh Taylor uh Pice, another reporter for LA Mag, she is capturing DA Hawkman's presser. So we'll have that later on.com on all of our socials. So check there. But um I'm going to go uh backwards for a minute or actually no, I'm going to just sort of start off by uh letting you know who was in the courtroom. So Nathan Hawkman was sitting in the second row, I believe.

[00:59:10]And also in that row was the family attorney Patrick Steinfeld for the Revas Hernandez family. I believe they are also present or some of them are as it was discussed this morning um before the proceedings began that they would be able to attend under Marcy's law even if they are going to be testifying at the actual trial should it go to trial. And this is the case as well for uh David's family, the Burke family. I did not see them but I didn't look very hard so I'll check later. Um and and I'll have an update on lamag.com later today again as well as all the socials, but um yeah, so David uh his his attorney Blair Burke, you know, first argued about the shackles. You know, she said that these are are very they're inappropriate because his behavior has been appropriate and all other proceedings.

[00:59:58]He's very mildmannered. He's been polite and he is innocent until proven guilty.

[01:00:02]And uh Judge Almeida basically said, you know, he he can have his handcuffs off to drink water, take notes, but he needs to be, you know, shackled at the waist.

[01:00:10]So there was that. Um and you know, I I just want to say something. I I tweeted uh I tweeted out this morning just some very graphic details about the photos we saw from inside the Tesla. And I that's what I mean when I'll I'll go backwards here. So let's go backwards from there.

[01:00:26]This was um from a detective, detective buyers from the LAPD robbery homicide unit. Um these these photos again, they they were very awful. They made my stomach turn. Um a few other reporters I noticed as well kind of had to look away, but David did not David was uh did not take his eyes away from these photos. He he also kind of gave me this sense that he was very relaxed in court almost like he was kind of sitting in an English class or something, you know, just following along with the teacher.

[01:00:57]So, you know, he would sit back in his chair a little bit. He would he would lean forward sometimes and and you know, his his mannerisms with his attorney, they were interesting. She would Blair Burke would rub his back. They would smile at each other. But again, throughout the showing of these graphic photos, he didn't move. He didn't flinch. He just stared at the screen.

[01:01:16]Um, so Detective Buyers was called to the scene after the uh the impound lot called the police for this very strong odor. So police had opened the trunk.

[01:01:28]You know, they end up calling robbery homicide division when they they found a body. Detective buyer shows up and uh he describes the scene and then we see the photos. So what what we saw um it was very troubling. We we saw several garbage bags with blue handles and they were closed. We'd see them closed and then we would see them open. So, we saw a closed bag with lots of liquid and blood and just insects um sort of around it and then we would see the bag opened with her uh arms and legs bloody and it was it was bad. Um they were they were wet, they were uh dismembered and it's what you would think they would look like. Um, then we saw another bag that contained her her head and her torso.

[01:02:13]And I did see um a black mass of hair or or so I thought I did. Um, and again it was just bloody wet and and very very decomposed. Um, he was asked if he could identify any facial features and he said no. It was so badly decomposed because of uh skin slippage is what he called it. Um, we also saw a close-up of her hands. We saw the um the fingers that were amputated, you know, we saw the the sh finger as well from the other hand.

[01:02:47]Um and yeah, it was it was tough, but again, he he had his his eyes just glued to the screen. Um, so I want to go back because from there they obviously were able to identify the Tesla as belonging to David David Burke um from the plates, you know, the Texas plates and uh they were able to get a warrant as well. And so then we, you know, we we talked a lot about the different warrants that buyers was was able to obtain here. So, they were able to see um that David his iCloud account disconnected from this Tesla last on July 29th, 2025. They also found a receipt in the Tesla from Ross' like uh clothes for less or something like that. And they had the address um and they had the the date. So, they went over to Ross' and they pulled surveillance and they saw that it was David buying clothes on July 29th, 2025.

[01:03:43]So, they were able to kind of match that up as well. Um, and let me just go back.

[01:03:49]Sorry. Um, I have so many notes. So many notes here. Um, so yes. So, they were able to do um through a warrant just extractions from from his phone, which apparently was an iPhone 16 Pro and it was uh Pro Max called the Tranquilizer. And this phone, by the way, has never physically been located. Um, and and this was the phone disconnected on on the 29th. So, um, per Celebrate activity, you know, they were kind of showing us sort of the the places that he went and they were screenshotting some of these places from the infotainment center on the Tesla and matching it up to the iCloud. For example, we had um a trip identified um in navigation to Santa Barbara and Lake Pachuma, plus a Tesla charge in uh Sanz Valley in May of 2025, a month after they believe she was killed. Um there was another location of interest, a charging station on 729, which is on the way to um to Santa Barbara as well. And they also they found um surveillance footage from a home nearby when he parked the Tesla on July 29th, 2025, the alleged last time that it was in his possession. And um they showed us just multiple angles of him getting out, going into his home, you know, and that's that. Um so let me see. Oh, they they talked about getting um a a search warrant for the home as well where they went over the the evidence that we kind of already knew about the burn cage.

[01:05:29]They found that in a a box behind the piano. They found a blue iPhone 15 that belonged to David. And um you know, they also said they found a a tower computer where there was another email address.

[01:05:42]Um, and this email address was also connected to um the the iPhone that or the iCloud data that he had and it's follow follow it which is f a l l uh i t and some numbers atgmail.com and they actually found through that email um or through that iCloud on the tower computer several flights that David had booked between um I think it was LA to Texas and LA to uh London for for both he and Celeste.

[01:06:12]So, um, oh, there was also purchases made under another alias besides Victoria Mendes, um, Trayvon Davis, I I believe it was. Um, yeah, also the red Tesla in the garage, they were showing us photos when they were discussing the search warrant. They said that was registered to Robert Morgan Roth and they identified him as David's manager and quote personal assistant. I found that to be interesting. So, um, how they also identified Celeste, um, Jesus Rivas called LAPD communications on September 10th after he saw, uh, lots of media coverage on the 8th and he said, "Look, I I think this might be my daughter."

[01:06:51]And um basically he used his son as an interpreter or Celeste's brother and he was able to provide LAPD or the medical examiner's office with her um dentist's office so they could you know identify the dental records and it was her and also um you know he did say that per Jesus Rivas Hernandez um or sorry I think it's yeah Jes Rivas sorry um that she had two different phone numbers and he gave them to police. And then they also found out that she had a third phone number that no one no one knew.

[01:07:25]And when the um detective said her name, he said, you know, did did he say his daughter's name? He said, "Yes, it was Celeste Abigail Rivas Hernandez." That was very sad. It was a very sad moment to hear her full name. Um but just going back really quick cuz I'm trying to get this under 10 minutes. Um the uh first witness that we we heard from was uh Detective Joshua Buyers. No, I'm sorry.

[01:07:48]That's what I just talked about. Uh it was Deputy Juan Gonzalez from um the sheriff's department in LA who was told to go to David's house based on the investigation that the Riverside uh sheriff's department was doing when Celeste went missing. So we saw body cam from that where basically, you know, he talked to David and David kind of said, "Yeah, she told me she was 18, but then I heard she was 13." We see the photo of her, by the way, that yearbook photo.

[01:08:15]And man, apparently she's in sixth grade there. She looks younger, you guys. She looks much younger. Um, she had this Batman zip-up sweatshirt on that was just again, um, yeah, it was meant for a little kid. So, anyway, let me, uh, let me stop this video. I will have more details later. Again, lamag.com.

[01:08:36]Wow, that was a lot of information.

[01:08:40]I was taking notes. That's why I wasn't I was uh, typing, but I didn't start doing that till halfway through. I'm like, I need to be taking notes what she's saying.

[01:08:48]So, I didn't take them all. Okay. Wow.

[01:08:51]Okay. So, I have a couple things I want to just say real quick. Let me see if there's anything else. Okay, that's what we just watched. All right, let's see if he Oh, Zeke's back. If he did a Yeah, he did another one. You want to watch him real quick? Well, let's go over first. Let's go over what was just said here. It's just and then we'll watch uh Sloan's uh new video because there's one new one on there that we didn't watch. Hey Bubba, there's my baby. There's my baby Zeke. Okay, so like I said, I only to started taking notes like halfway through, but I wanted to make a couple points. Okay, so I started taking notes where she was talking about July 29th, 2020 2025.

[01:09:35]uh he was at Ross uh buying clothes and that was the last time that phone was connected to the Tesla and that phone being the iPhone 16 Pro called Tranquilizer which they never located. Okay.

[01:09:53]So, David, I mean, if you're innocent, like, why were we why you hiding a phone? Anyway.

[01:10:00]Um, they said that they have I forgot how she said that about about Santa Barbara May 2025.

[01:10:09]I think the directions I can't remember if they said that did she say that was from the phone or the Tesla, but she said uh they see him on a charging station on 729 on the way to Santa Barbara. Uh this is the big one here, they have him getting out of the Tesla the last time. So anybody that was still hanging on to SF saying that it was Neo right there. They have another They were able to get a a surveillance that he didn't get of David from different angles getting out. So that was him driving the last time to park it. It was David. It was not Neo. He was the last to freaking park the Tesla. Uh they showed him getting out. He's done for, dude.

[01:10:55]He's done for.

[01:10:59]What? Jamie, what are you saying? You said no. Huh?

[01:11:06]Anyway, um and then they said he said the burn cage. She said the burn cage.

[01:11:13]So they did see the burn cage. They were aware of the burn cage and the iPhone 15 uh that was connected to the a tower computer where another email with another alias.

[01:11:28]Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on. Let me back up. another email which was followitgmail.com.

[01:11:34]Okay, which they found. So that was the email I guess allegedly that he was using to buy those flights from LA to Texas and LA to London.

[01:11:47]Then she said there was other purchases.

[01:11:50]He used two different aliases. You had that uh Victoria Mendes or Yeah, Victoria Mendes is that was the first one, right? Um, and then another name she said, Tvon Davis.

[01:12:04]Is that familiar? Why does that name sound familiar? Is that anybody that like why did he pick that name is the question.

[01:12:19]I'm trying to look up. Trayvon Davis.

[01:12:22]Yeah, Lamar Davis. There is a Trayvon Davis was arrested yesterday after placed under arrest of two counts of Louisiana revived statue.

[01:12:38]He's from Texas. This Trayvon Davis, what I'm saying is I'm not saying that it was a real Trayvon Davis. What I'm saying is he used this alias. What made him pick that name? Right? We had Victoria Mendes and then he picked Trayvon Davis. And if you Google Trayvon Davis, you have, hold on, um, running back recruiting profile.

[01:13:10]But look right here, it says highlights University Football, Plain View, Texas.

[01:13:18]The heck? Trayvon Davis, Whan Baptist, Plane View, Texas. Is this He's a football player. Is this where he got the name from? Like, what the heck?

[01:13:30]Oh, that's the one I just went to. I mean, maybe he just knew of the guy player from Texas watch and he's like, I'll just put that name down.

[01:13:43]Wait, hold on. I wanted to click on Oh, shoot.

[01:13:47]I wanted to click on something else real quick. Hold on one second.

[01:13:54]All right. I wanted to do this one. The arrested one.

[01:13:59]Uh oh. Is that him? Man on pre-trial release arrested for drug and firearm possession.

[01:14:08]But that's a different I think that's a different ton than the football player.

[01:14:15]I think I don't know. I mean, obviously there's going to be more than one with the name, but I'm guessing he went for it for the uh Texas football player. I don't know.

[01:14:28]What the heck, dude?

[01:14:32]All right, let's see if there's anything. Oh, no. We Yeah, we're going to watch this.

[01:14:40]is that Josh, the detective, even revealed that Celeste's father, Jesus, called him on September 10th because he felt like that was his daughter in the frunk of the Tesla. They actually ended up getting dental records, and that's how they were able to confirm that it was her. So, I want to go through some of the exhibits that we just went through in court. So, we've got this one right here, which is 17A. And part of the court session is to prove that the technology that David used was actually used by David.

[01:15:08]There's this email called follow [email protected].

[01:15:11]Now, this email is also associated with a phone that is named tranquilizer. Kind of a bizarre name for a phone. And then we spend like honestly an hour just going through some of the metadata because Josh said they pulled 6 to 8 terabytes of data and they were able to essentially connect his phone, which is called Tranquilizer, to that follow it email and to the Tesla because every time you get into your Tesla, your phone connects. Um well specifically they wanted to look at July 29th because July 29th was the day that the Tesla was abandoned. So they went on to go and see what was the Tesla up to that day.

[01:15:47]Actually when they came to the vehicle they found a receipt inside the vehicle of from Ross dress for less. They found the date and it was that July 29th date.

[01:15:55]So they kind of just walked it back.

[01:15:56]They went to the Ross. They found some security camera did prove that it was David driving that vehicle that day and then they kind of followed his rounds.

[01:16:04]It looks like he went to Culver City at one point and then he ultimately went home. Once he got home, he left the car, not right in front of his vehicle or right in front of his home, but actually right across the street down a little bit away from the home. It's out of sight, but it's relatively close. I mean, it's only like what, a 4-minute walk from the house. I don't know if he thought that this was far enough or not, but after he left it there on July 29th, he must have just forgot about it because from then it sat there and it got tickets and tickets and tickets until ultimately it was sent to the towyard in September. So, you could see David's like lawyer trying to discredit some of the metadata here, trying to ask like how did you get this? Who's the expert on this? Like how are you even able to explain it? And he's like uh yeah, they use this system called Celebrate. They were trained by police and everyone uses it in any case that has technology. Also, I think it is interesting that in the garage they they asked him like what evidence he collected. He collected forensic. We don't know what the forensics are, a computer and cell phone, specifically an iPhone 15. So, the iPhone that has the name Tranlizer was never actually located, but the iPhone 15 was located in the house. And that phone had a bunch of pictures of David, had pictures of his passport, credit cards, all of that together. And ultimately, I think that was the phone that was used to go and purchase tickets to take Celeste out of the country because he took her to London whenever she was a minor, which is completely illegal. But I'll be keeping you guys up to date on everything. Also, the the names that he uses to order things on Amazon. What's really sad about the situation is that Josh the detective >> Shoot, it cut out. Let me see if there's another one. Is he going to do another one?

[01:17:49]Now it cut out. Um, but hold on, let me check something really quick.

[01:18:08]I'm trying to see if this is the same.

[01:18:10]>> So, we are on break right now. I'm going to give you guys some updates. I've been >> No, that's the same one. Hold on, guys.

[01:18:15]Well, I don't know. But we know Trayvon Davis. But I was just curious what he was going to say about that. Like what was his thoughts of the name that he chose to use? Trayvon Davis.

[01:18:27]All right, let's see if there's anything else.

[01:18:36]Let's see if there's anything updated in the on the court.

[01:18:41]I wonder I hope I get I hope I get the transcripts and stuff.

[01:18:52]Might not get it till tomorrow.

[01:18:56]I'm just seeing the other court. See if they have anything that's like doesn't look like there's anything updated on that side of things. Okay.

[01:19:11]Um, let me check one more spot. Let's see if there's anything I could put on while I look for some other stuff. Hold on.

[01:19:22]So, we already did that one.

[01:19:26]TMZ. I don't think they updated anything yet. Nope.

[01:19:36]Now we already watched that just going over the main players here.

[01:19:44]That's all right. And this we already watch this.

[01:19:52]We already watch that. Let's see if he's got any other.

[01:19:58]Yeah. Okay.

[01:20:04]All right. So, let me see. We'll watch a YouTube video here and I want look at a couple places.

[01:20:23]Let's see what this one has to say.

[01:20:31]DA that the matter should go to trial.

[01:20:33]The fact the DA >> Let's watch some of this here. See what they got to say here >> with NBC4's Britney Hope. She's outside the courthouse. Britney, so this started a couple of hours ago. What has happened so far?

[01:20:51]>> Hi Annabelle. It's been a really disturbing morning inside that courtroom. NBC4 Investigates Eric Leonard is inside right now and he tells us that Celeste's parents are sitting in the front row and they're sitting in that front row as evidence is begun to be shown. Now, that includes incredibly graphic photos of Celeste's body dismembered, decaying, covered in flies and maggots when it was discovered in a Hollywood. The prosecutors right now continuing to lay out the evidence that they have in this case against David.

[01:21:21]District Attorney Nathan Hawkman is inside the courtroom listening to the proceedings. We saw him walk into the courthouse earlier this morning. He has called this case a parents nightmare.

[01:21:31]Also inside the courtroom are members of the public who entered a lottery system to try to get a seat inside. One man tells me he came today as a concerned citizen.

[01:21:41]>> I'm born and raised in Hollywood, so I'm a Hollywood native. I've been coming for like the last maybe three hearings. I came today because I want justice for Celeste. I want to see what's going on firsthand. Um, I don't want to hear rumors or other people's opinions. I want to see for myself what's going on out here in my home, you know.

[01:21:59]>> So, cameras are not allowed inside the courtroom today. The prosecution this morning also showed body camera footage from a welfare check done at David's home in February 2024 when authorities were looking for Celeste, who had been reported missing. You see in that video, David tell deputies she told him she was 18 years old, although she was only 13 years old at the time. Ahead of this hearing today, David's legal team had asked the judge if he would be able to be unshackled for the proceedings. The judge decided that he can have his hands free, but he is still shackled by the waist and under the table at his feet.

[01:22:34]Again, NBC4 Investigates Eric Leonard is inside. We will have coverage on this all day here on air and online. For now, we're reporting in downtown Oh, there's still >> LA. Britney Hope, NBC4 News. Just so disturbing. Britney, thank you so much for that. And for more context, let's bring in our legal analyst, Royal Oaks.

[01:22:53]Royal, thank you so much for joining us today.

[01:22:55]>> You bet.

[01:22:56]>> So, Royal, we know this prosecution is going to continue to lay out the evidence they have, and we just heard Britney describe how horrific it is. How much of the evidence will they have to show, and is there a benefit to holding some of it? Well, there is a benefit to holding back in the sense that the district attorney knows this is just a preliminary hearing, a mini trial, an overview. The only question for the judge, there's no jury. And the question for the judge is, is there probable cause that Burke committed this murder?

[01:23:25]Meaning, would a reasonable person suspect that he's guilty? Which is far from the trial standard, which is guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

[01:23:34]You know, so L Royal, his lawyer had asked the judge for an order to unshackle him for the proceedings, and we just heard Britney say that that didn't happen. So, let's talk about the psychology behind that. I mean, there aren't any jurors in there, and of course, no cameras are allowed.

[01:23:47]>> Well, that's right. The district attorney's strategy, I think, is to start sending a message to the world, the community, including prospective jurors. We got our man. This guy is so dangerous. He's in a jail jumpsuit. He can't leave his chair. And in that sense, the district attorney is showing that he's being aggressive. Now, you know, there is no necessity for all of this gruesome, grizzly evidence to be presented at this point. The judge is almost certainly going to agree with the DA that the matter should go to trial.

[01:24:18]The fact the DA is being aggressive in ruling out this evidence, I think, means that the district attorney just wants to send a message. We're extremely serious about this case. We have the goods on this person. Of course, the defense position is just because a body is in somebody's car doesn't mean that owner of the car did it. Where's the DNA?

[01:24:38]Where's the eyewitness testimony? Where are the fingerprints? So, you're seeing the battle lines drawn in this mini trial, >> Royal. So, the murder charge, I want to talk about that. It carries special allegations. What role do they carry in the prosecution?

[01:24:51]>> Well, that can turn this from a murder in the first degree case where he could be sent away for life to capital punishment. Now, as a practical matter, it's tough to get the death penalty in California, but the DA still may want to go for it. And there are special circumstances alleged here that could justify the death penalty. For example, did you murder a witness who was going to testify against you? Did you do it for financial gain? And this is intriguing. If you bump somebody off because they've got a million dollars you want, that's for financial gain.

[01:25:21]What if Burke killed someone allegedly because he wanted to protect his income stream in the future? Because remember, allegedly Celeste was arguing with him, saying, "You're exclusive with me, or else I'll tell the world and you're going to be in a heap of trouble. All of these arguments are going to be rolled out by the district attorney in this mini trial."

[01:25:40]>> I'm going to ask you a question here, Royal. Based on your expertise here and on everything that's been disclosed so far, do you think the judge will agree to a trial? You know, I think you should uh get the deed to your house, go to Las Vegas, bet the house on the fact that they will be going to trial because it isn't a matter of guilt or innocence at this point. It's just probable cause.

[01:26:02]And in fact, the defense may hold back some of their strong arguments because they know they're almost certainly going to lose at this stage. They may want to have an element of surprise when and if the matter goes to trial. All right, Royal, as always, thank Hold on. I have something else I had up.

[01:26:22]Where did I put it?

[01:26:25]Where did I put it? Oh, here it is.

[01:26:30]I wanted to um So, here here's a sketch.

[01:26:37]Thank you, Ruby. Thank you so much.

[01:26:41]I should here. Let me actually say thanks to everybody. Thank you, Ruby. I appreciate that. 40 gems. Cat mouse, 10 gems. Thank you. Viking, two gems. Thank you, Adele. 440 gems.

[01:26:58]Being me again, 380. Thank you. And 440.

[01:27:02]Thank you. Secret Forest Creatures UK.

[01:27:06]350. Thanks.

[01:27:09]And then the other ones I was already able to vocalize.

[01:27:14]Um, okay. Well, I'll do it again real quick.

[01:27:19]Cat mouse gift membership. Thanks, Angelina. 30 and Sandra.

[01:27:25]Sandra's got game. I like that name, by the way. But 440 gems. Thank you, guys.

[01:27:31]All right, so let's uh let's see what else we could find here. We have David New Sketch arriving in court. So he's got his glasses looking all So remember he arrived with handcuffs but then they requested and they allowed him to take them off.

[01:27:50]Okay. And then we have I wanted to go over this right here too.

[01:27:55]Not this. Where is it?

[01:27:58]This is the picture he had her yearbook photo with a Batman shirt. There it is.

[01:28:04]Does any is anybody else confused of why did he show that to the uh the cop the to law enforcement? Why?

[01:28:13]Like they said when they went and checked on her, this is before the murder when she was missing. Um so remember this was the summer of 20 or no spring 2024 it would have been because February to March, April I think it was around that month. have to go look at the month. Exactly. But it's 2024 when they came and she was missing.

[01:28:37]I don't understand why he showed them that because that right there just proves more so that you that oh hello come on she's not 18. So he's telling them oh she told me she was 18 now I'm hearing she's 13 blah blah blah and then shows her the picture. Like I that I can't really understand. It sounds like he showed that David showed him the picture though. the law enforcement, right? At least that's how they said it. That's why I'm confused. Why did he show Why did I understand why law enforcement would show David the picture, but didn't you guys read it like he was saying that she David showed law enforcement that picture? That's what it was written.

[01:29:19]Unless if it was a typo, but yeah, it's sick.

[01:29:27]And then we talked about this, but Deputy Gonzalez testified Burke told investigators the last time he spoke with Celeste was February 13, 2024.

[01:29:37]Last time he saw her, November 12th, 2023. Oh, but then they have the flight ticket. They have all this evidence that's showing you are a liar. So, what is he going to say about this stuff?

[01:29:48]Because you can't freaking deny some of the evidence. Let's say they could, you know, prove the flight log and you got the Fonda uh Fonda uh shows that you could see her in. Like, what is what is the defense going to say? Oh, no, that's not real. Or are you going to be like, "Yeah, he lied. Why did he lie? I I'm anxious to hear why did he lie?" Like, what is did we know why he lied, but what is the defense reason going to like what are they going to say? Why he lied about this? Right.

[01:30:21]Okay, that's Lauren. Okay, so let's see if we can find anything else.

[01:30:33]Makes me sick.

[01:30:36]I just h I'm so glad he's going down. I mean, it's it's happening.

[01:30:43]So, I'm sure everybody's going back in.

[01:30:45]So, we'll get more updates for uh on this next uh the next break. But I'm just double check I keep double checking to see if there's anything more for the from the lunch break real quick. Hold on.

[01:31:11]NBC. We play that one.

[01:31:20]Hold on. I'm just going through see what I should play.

[01:31:47]Sorry, I'm just looking here. Um, oh, wait a minute. I forgot he has this other channel. Hold on. Sloan.

[01:31:59]Okay, hold on a second, guys. Let's see if he's What's on this? Gosh, how many channels does he have?

[01:32:08]Oh, that's the same thing that we watched. Okay, so he's posting it on this, too. Do you guys want to watch Okay, we could either go over some Discord. I could read some Discord messages if you want. Or do you want There's this lawn crime video from last night on this case, or we could do a fox with that Gyaragos uh from like five hours ago.

[01:32:34]until while we're waiting for updates.

[01:32:36]Then of course once there's an update, we will be on it.

[01:32:41]But I'm just curious what you guys want to do until and then while that's playing I could keep checking for for updates here. I might as well play something while we're waiting. Hold on.

[01:33:02]I'll keep looking. Let me just play something really quick. David Um, okay. So, I will play Oh, wait. Did Did that trap trapure? Did Ross get put anything out? Let's see.

[01:33:29]He's there. Is he doing lives? Oh, yeah.

[01:33:32]Here, let's do him.

[01:33:38]Wait, this is >> This might be from Is this from today? Hold on. I haven't watch or is this from before?

[01:33:47]>> Hey, folks. I'm here outside at the David trial and with all the media.

[01:33:50]>> Let's see. It looks like it. Let me add it.

[01:33:57]Let's see here. It is very very intense today. There has been some very very big updates from inside that I've just witnessed and we've just seen some of the key evidence that they're going to be presenting against David. So this is the basically this is the preliminary hearing. We're seeing some of the evidence that's likely to be used against him and really it's damning stuff. What we've seen so far is body cam footage of in 2024 in February when um basically an LA sheriff was sent to David's home at the request of the Riverside County Sheriff and they basically got in touch with uh with David personally. We saw the body warn video where they went to his property.

[01:34:31]They asked him about Celeste. They searched the property for her and they basically had a back and forth with him about her age. He said that he thought that she was 18, that he'd heard from other people she was 18. We also saw some very very uncomfortable and gruesome photos of the state of the remains that were found in the Tesla and it was just really really awful stuff.

[01:34:49]Everybody in the courtroom was shocked.

[01:34:50]I'm going to have a much bigger update for you guys shortly, but that's the latest so far. Okay, trying to see if there's actually anything else. Uh, [snorts] what other links does he have? Maybe he has some Instagram. Oh, or his main channel.

[01:35:18]Hold on.

[01:35:25]No, it doesn't look like he has anything yet. Okay.

[01:35:32]All right. So, while we're waiting for that, I'm gonna waiting for the next break. I'm gonna put on because I got to go use the restroom real quick. So, I'm just gonna put on this. If it's boring, I could end up >> which has happened in >> um we could watch something else. I want to see what you guys said. Would you guys want to read through um some uh Discord I have and like in files we could read through or no?

[01:36:01]Well, I'll try to keep looking for interesting things that we could talk about that maybe I haven't went over before. I'm going to play this because I have to use the restroom and then we'll go from there.

[01:36:11]>> Charges. And remember what this is also about. This is about transparency, right? Because this is a case that has been shrouded in so much secrecy. This is an opportunity to finally see what the prosecution claims it has. So, I wanted to do a preview of what we can expect. And I have some logistical details for you that I will tell you one person is pretty upset about. And I have an idea about a potential key witness, one of David's reported friends, someone we haven't spoken about a lot, but she just posted a video and it got me thinking. We'll get into that. Now remember, David is the singer currently charged with first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, unlawful mutilation of human remains, all in connection with the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Prosecutors alleged that he was in a sexual relationship with her.

[01:37:00]that back on April 23rd, 2025, prosecutors alleged that David lured her to his home in LA, stabbed her to death, allegedly watched her bleed out, which is an important detail that I'm going to get to, and then reportedly took horrifying measures to conceal this killing. All in an effort to keep her quiet about their relationship to prevent her from coming forward, that this would have ruined his very successful, lucrative career. The special circumstances allegations, which carry heftier penalties, potentially the death penalty, include murder of a witness, murder for financial gain, lying, and weight. Prosecutors alleged that he used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a sharp instrument to kill Celeste. And prosecutors alleged that he purchased a blue inflatable pool, chainsaws, a body bag, heavy duty laundry bags, that he dismembered her body, that he made suspicious trips to the Santa Barbara County area, that he lied to friends and associates about the alleged smell of decomposition in his residence. These are all the allegations, and it all culminates September 8th, 2025. That is the day after what would have been Celeste's 15th birthday that her dismembered decomposed body is found reportedly in the front trunk of a Tesla allegedly registered to David at an LA towyard. He has entered a not-uilty plea and he is innocent unless proven guilty. So that's where we're at. Now I got to go into this. So first things first, before I even get into the substance of what we can expect at this preliminary hearing, we received an update. We received a notice to all media. So, this preliminary hearing is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026 in Department 105 on the 9th floor of the Claris Shortridge Folultz Criminal Justice Center with Judge Charlene Fido presiding. And this preliminary hearing is scheduled to last 3 days. And this part's key. It says this notice, the court will hold a public lottery for public seats for the preliminary hearing. The court will conduct a public lottery for 10 public seats and 10 standby seats from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m.

[01:39:03]It's going to be on the first floor lobby of this courthouse on each day of the preliminary hearing. And then it says there's going to be no photography, video, or recording that is allowed in any courtroom, courthouse, hallway, or lobby at any time, including the use of cell phones to capture pictures, video, or audio recordings. So, you can see why this is going to be an issue in terms of transparency, right? Do you know who's not happy about this? Steve Fischer.

[01:39:26]We've had him on the program before, the private investigator who has been looking into this case. He was hired by the owner of the property where David was reportedly staying. This is the place near where the Tesla was reportedly towed. He took to X and he posted, quote, "The court is allowing only 10 members of the public into the preliminary hearing in the David case.

[01:39:44]That is outrageous and not how public access to the court should work. There is supposed to be a reasonable balance between seating for the press and seating for the public. This is a large courtroom, yet only 10 seats are being made available to the public. Her family has not appeared previously, and they could be called as witnesses, so they shouldn't be in the gallery anyway. They are not being held for that purpose. Not to mention, they're not allowing cameras even for the testimony that doesn't include CP. CP, I believe, to be child pornography because they claimed that that's what David allegedly had on his devices. Documents have been sealed throughout the case and now access to the courtroom is being severely restricted. At this point, it feels as though they are making up their own rules. #David # Celeste Rivas Hernandez.

[01:40:29]All right, look, a little bit of a 180 here, but I just have to call this out.

[01:40:32]Um, for all you business owners out there, running a business, it's tough enough.

[01:40:39]Free at odo.com/sidebar.

[01:40:42]So, I want to talk about this and more.

[01:40:44]A lot more. I'm here with attorney Imran Ansari. Imran, great to see you. Thank you for taking the time. First of all, your reaction to what Steve had to say.

[01:40:52]I mean, does he have a point? There's a lot of people that want to know what's happening with this case. Do you think it's wrong to limit the amount of members of the public that should be in there? Do you think it's wrong to not have more cameras, more video, more transparency?

[01:41:05]>> Well, there is a public right to access, right? And this is a a trial that's going to really uh be grabbing the public's attention. We know that. But at the same time uh the court the judge needs to balance uh maintaining order uh in the courtroom and that's also regarding seating and who's in the courtroom uh and when they are in the courtroom and certainly just a very practical consideration the space in the courtroom. Now this is a it's a small amount being allocated to members of the public uh to get into that courtroom.

[01:41:41]And of course, as you pointed out, Jesse, it's not like there's going to be cameras broadcasting or a feed in a spillover room where people could sit uh and watch, which has happened in other trials where there's a lot of public attention and interest. Uh so that is one consideration but then also u the prime importance uh for the court for the prosecutor for the defendant is to have a fair trial and an orderly trial and including this hearing. So all the preliminary matters leading up to trial.

[01:42:14]Uh and that's really a consideration that the judge has here. I'm sure there's going to be challenges to that.

[01:42:20]perhaps some motions filed uh by members of the press or the public to try to get some access in there, but really this the judge's discretion uh to make sure that there's order in the courtroom and certainly uh that there's enough space and it's not turned into a circus uh within that courtroom.

[01:42:37]>> Look, I'm biased. I would like more attention. I would like more transparency here. I think particularly for a high-profile case like this in a matter of public interest. That's just my take. But, you know, look, again, I'm kind of I really would like to see more, but I understand the court's considerations, and I understand the considerations uh of the defendant as well. What about the idea of Celeste's family being called as witnesses during this preliminary hearing? Do you think that's likely? I mean, for me, if I'm thinking about it, I wonder if they would testify to what they knew about this alleged illegal sexual relationship between Celeste and David.

[01:43:13]>> Yeah, they very well may be called. I I think the prosecution has a lot of evidence. You know, put aside the family uh and what they may have to say uh about their observations or what they learned or heard from Celeste or later learned, you know, based on uh some of the evidence that came out afterwards.

[01:43:30]And certainly the reporting of her missing uh you know, there was that first time and then she returned uh and then the second time, right? That may be information or evidence and testimony uh that the prosecution wants to put forward in this preliminary hearing. But I also think that the prosecution has a lot of evidence whe you know whether it be the the forensic evidence uh the the circumstantial evidence by visav uh the electronic data and location data that they have that they may not need to call uh the family into that courtroom.

[01:44:01]>> So you know we'll see.

[01:44:02]>> I want to get into that because I want to take this um potentially witness by witness but and I and I'm jumping ahead a little bit here because this just happened. I'm going to get into what we can expect from the preliminary hearing and who we can expect to testify. So, I'm not going in order because what just came out? What just came out? There was this video from Asia Collins. Okay, this is a person that we believe to be David's former friend. She posted a Twitch live stream on her account earlier this month. It was titled, "Well, let's talk." Here's a portion of what she said on that live stream. So immediately I go to David and I'm like, "Hey, uh, this girl saying that you're with a 13-year-old. You need to explain yourself." He was like, "Dude, that's not even true. Like, she's like 19." And I was like, "No, she's not. She said she's 13. Like, show me proof." And you know what? He showed me proof. And I was like, "Okay, I'mma back off. I feel like I'm harassing my friend." And by the way, TMZ also reported that back in June, she posted online seemingly calling David a psychopath who lied and betrayed everyone around him. So, she makes the point, look, how much more did you want me to question him? It's not like I just took his word. You know, he's saying, you show me proof. I'm not sure what you want me to more to do, but she clearly doesn't believe him now. And she was trying to make the point to clarify uh the situation. But she was like she pressed him, you know, she was balancing between pressing him about this alleged relationship at the same time not harassing who she thought was a friend.

[01:45:33]I feel like that's significant. I feel like she's going to testify. No.

[01:45:37]>> Yeah, she very well may be. And she put it out there, right? So, she's certainly on the radar of the prosecution uh and everyone else who's really following this this case and the events that led up to David's arrest and the horrific death here uh of of Celeste Rivas. So, you know, she may very well be someone who would come in and potentially testify about that contemporaneous uh sort of interaction with David at that time. Uh where she's questioning the age uh he's now coming to her and perhaps giving her false information, well, giving her false information at that time. Uh and it could be a real credibility sort of uh uh question there. Uh if there's any sort of defense uh put forward by the defense as to not knowing her age and the thing and all that, but we see the evidence. I think that's not necessarily going to hold up.

[01:46:24]>> I thought she might also testify because there was a portion where she said in this she goes there's not much more I can I'm paraphring. She goes, "There's not much more I can say for legal reasons." So that makes me think like she might testify. Let's also talk about Neil Langston for a minute. Okay, Neil Langston is somebody who's come up throughout the course of this case. This is another one of David's apparent friends who ran in a circle. We know a few months back there was a video obtained by TMZ. was posted apparently from July 2025 showing what appears to be David and Langston at what seems to be this Hollywood Hills property with David saying the smell is from him going to the bathroom. And a prosecution filing states that David quote lied to friends, business associates, and others about that strong smell of decay in and around the home and the car. And Neo, right, Neil Langston, he was arrested in Montana, was seemingly brought back to LA to testify before a grand jury. In fact, last week we learned the defense is going to receive copies of transcripts from grand jury proceedings, including the day we believe Langston showed up in court. Remember a few months ago, TMZ captured footage of him reportedly entering the courthouse. TMZ also reported that he was only testifying in front of a grand jury for about 30 to 40 minutes. It raises questions about what did he actually testify to, whether he pleaded the fifth. But we also know he too took to social media after all this. There was an Instagram story post where he seemingly called David a dehead. Posted, quote, "Thankfully, I'm legally fine in every way." And boy, do I got all my receipts for things. Haha. Then he reportedly posted, "I think the worst part is that I've told so many people that I trust and I thought knew me as a person, my side of things, all for that to be thrown out the effing window as soon as I get arrested and they slap that D head's name next to mine." And for the record, the thing I was arrested for wasn't even charged. They never filed it and my warrant was retracted because there is more to the story than what's on the news. Is he going to tell his story at this preliminary hearing or is he going to plead the fifth? Is he going to be called as a witness?

[01:48:26]>> Yeah, I think he may be. Right. No, he already went into the grand jury and you know, we don't know yet what uh that testimony was, if any, and whether he took the fifth at that point. Uh but then he's also at the same time, Jesse, going out there uh on social media and and putting this message out there, which may be a little cryptic, but it's enough to decipher uh that it's related to this and to David. Uh that's certainly there. And if he was represented by council, you would uh uh and he was not um has not given any testimony or any statements that's going to be used by the prosecution. You certainly would think that he would have had the advice.

[01:49:03]You better not go out there on social media and start yapping uh you know by an attorney. So I think he may testify.

[01:49:10]I think he probably did testify before that grand jury as to the smells, the observations, the things that he learned or he was told by David as this was being covered up allegedly. Uh, and I think that he may very well testify at this preliminary hearing because it's part of the prosecution's case and it gives context aside from the forensic evidence, aides from the the ge geographical evidence that's gleaned from the Tesla and from the phone, etc. It's a live witness coming in as to observations that he saw.

[01:49:40]>> Would he be granted immunity? Is that something we would learn during the course of this preliminary hearing? Is that something the defense could ask him if he testifies?

[01:49:50]>> Certainly. So, right. So, if the prosecution struck a deal with him uh and if there was any sort of leniency or or not uh immunity given, of course, in grand jury, that's that's commonly done.

[01:50:00]uh even with this preliminary hearing, if there's any sort of deal with the prosecution, that's going to be exploited uh in any way they can from the defense team. Uh but then again, can you score points even if you are attacking credibility? Uh because this isn't necessarily a credibility determination if he does take the stand.

[01:50:17]is really going to the observations uh that that individual made at that Hollywood Hills house, his interactions with David and not so much something where he cut a deal with the prosecution to get out of any any sort of culpability here.

[01:50:31]>> Let me just take a step back for a second. So, I'm I'm jumping ahead to these witnesses who may be called. I think the first witnesses to testify for the prosecution in a preliminary hearing are the lead detectives. No, I mean the ones that are going to kind of summarize all the evidence. um based on LA County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman. He had this press conference um when it was announced that David was arrested and I recall he said at the time that the LAPD detectives on the case are Josh Buyers and Cory Fel. Aren't they going to be the main witnesses at this prelim?

[01:51:04]>> Yeah, Jesse, I think they will because you have to uh analyze or look at the real purpose or of this hearing, right?

[01:51:11]It's a preliminary hearing to determine probable cause and whether uh David is going to go to trial here and the evidence was sufficient to support the charges brought against him. So, what are you going to do in terms of a prosecution uh standpoint? You want to get that evidence before the jury and you're going to have to establish chain of custody and things like that and observations by law enforcement what led into the investigation here for probable cause to arrest. And you're going to do that through those detectives. And this case really is a law enforcement investigationheavy case uh because you have the discovery of the body uh in the Tesla and sort of the working uh your way back from a law enforcement standpoint and investigatory standpoint where you're looking at that geo data when you're looking at you know the the the purchases that David is allegedly making uh for those very damning and incriminating sort of items uh for concealment of the body. And then you're also looking at and and and getting in evidence and testimony through the detectives, through law enforcement, uh as to the recovery of things like the inflatable pool once they get the search warrant. That's all damning evidence here for the, you know, alleged uh allegations against David and ultimately for the prosecution to make their case.

[01:52:31]And specifically in this preliminary hearing, Jesse, I think that's what they're going to lead with because they want that out there before the court early on to establish the evidence and the sufficiency of that evidence.

[01:52:42]>> One of the biggest question marks from the prosecution's prior filing was they claimed David stabbed Celeste and watched her bleed out. Do you think the prosecution through these lead detectives or maybe another witness is going to explain how they know that? How they know that he allegedly watched her bleed out? Are they just assuming that because they claim that no one called emergency services or do they have a witness? Are these detectives going to say we have surveillance footage of this or is that again am I just looking too much into it and they're saying they watched her bleed out because he didn't he allegedly didn't call emergency services.

[01:53:14]>> Yeah. So, Jesse, when I read that in some reporting, uh that was my uh literally that was my initial reaction like how did the do they know that uh to make that allegation uh that he watched her bleed out, right? Um and I had that same sort of question. So, I'm thinking through it. Um, it may not necessarily be something as clear-cut as surveillance footage or a witness who uh we probably would have heard about if there was anyone present uh during this h when this happened and and I think there it's pretty clear there wasn't. Um it may be supported by medical uh evidence although she was so decomposed the body parts that we know that the the medical examiner also struggled with the determination at one point of death and things like that right u so it could just be speculation in some points right you know that uh there was no assistance called 911 wasn't called we know uh at least that the were penetrating wounds that led uh to the death and uh that likely there wasn't any sort of remedy or or medical uh treatment in terms of David allegedly uh you placing anything to stem the bleeding or things like that. So I think we're not necessarily against some clear damning evidence such as surveillance, but I think you could put two and two together and that's where they get that statement. Do you think these lead detectives are going to finally reveal the text messages between David and Celeste? Or is there going to be a Celbrite expert or somebody from Digital Forensics? Because you go back to the prosecution's brief and they say that there are these text message exchanges between the defendant and the victim on April 22nd and April 23rd, 2025, where the victim threatened to expose the defendant and destroy his career. that the night prior, April 22nd, 2025, defendant and the victim engaged in a lengthy argument described in detail in their text messages. The messages revealed the victim's jealousy over defendants's relationships with other women as defendant led her to believe they had a future together. She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life. So, do you think that either the lead investigators or somebody from digital forensics is going to testify to those the content, the substance of those messages?

[01:55:29]>> Yeah, absolutely, Jesse. I think we're going to see those text messages. We already know uh the substance or the summoned substance of those text messages based on those filings and the prosecution is likely going to call someone from uh the you know the cell phone carrier or an investigatory uh you know body that is able to lay the evidentiary foundation uh for those text message to come into evidence. and of course the detectives or law enforcement uh staff who ultimately took those or or were able to get that off his phone or any other methods to to get those messages um that were exchanged between the two. But I certainly believe that we're going to see those text messages.

[01:56:06]And of course, the prosecution uh doesn't have to show or prove motive. Uh but there's always a desire, this is a preliminary hearing, but let's say this goes to trial, a desire from the jury to hear motive, uh you know, for for a complete narrative as to why something so tragic happened. uh and those text messages give the prosecution uh the ability to argue motive uh here in this case. Whereas there's the jealousy, the threat to expose him right when he's about to to release that uh you know that premier or you know the the first album go on tour and on he's on the sort of verge of stardom there. So that's that's that motive there and I think we're going to see the text messages uh really taking a front role in the evidence here. I I think you might also hear from like his managers or agents or people around him to talk about the height of his career too, right? If they're trying to prove special circumstances allegations, uh you know, killing for financial gain. I think a part of it they would have to establish where was he at in his career? Why did he need Celeste to be quiet?

[01:57:11]>> Absolutely. And I think that's the the uh story uh or at least the theory that the prosecution is going to be putting forward before that jury. By the way, in terms of this alleged child pornography, right, that they claim is on David's devices, uh, is that something that I imagine will be presented at preliminary hearing through the lead detectives >> to some extent, Jesse. I think, right?

[01:57:35]you know, um, we've heard about that child pornography, uh, whether it's photographs or videos of Celeste Rivas, you know, I believe that may be the case and we're not we're not going to see that certainly, but we may hear about that and I think we're going to hear the testimony about that uh being uh recovered off the cell phone because again, it goes to uh some aspects of the crimes that he's charged with, of course. Uh, and I think we're going to we're certainly going to learn about that. And to the extent that he has it, I think it was a relatively sizable amount if I understand correctly, but that's going to be damning evidence ultimately for him uh when it's relevant to some of the crimes that he's charged with.

[01:58:12]>> I also have to imagine the manager of the towyard, the crime scene technicians.

[01:58:20]>> Thank you, KPWTSxRx.

[01:58:24][laughter] Thank you.

[01:58:28]How much longer do you guys want to watch the rest of this or you know what we could watch? We could here. Let me just share a little bit. Or put a one if you want to finish watching this or two if not. I never know. A one if you want to finish watching this a two if not.

[01:58:46]>> Talking about what they discovered in that Tesla is going to be also one of the reasons why this is a three-day hearing. There's so much to it. But I imagine that's something we could expect too, right?

[01:58:55]>> Certainly. Right. And again, that goes towards the the weight and the sufficiency of the evidence and ultimately the probable cause here. Um, and I certainly think we're going to hear about it and it's going to be difficult to hear when you learn about the dismemberment, the torso and the head in one bag and then the, you know, the body, the missing fingers. It's gruesome, gruesome stuff. And whenever you hear about this, certainly with a public figure like David, you know, of course they're allegations, but these allegations here, they're really difficult to stomach. and you know the aspects about this inflatable pool and in you know that what happened in that Hollywood Hills home as the allegations are put forth you know it's difficult to listen to and certainly if you see the photographic evidence which in this courtroom may very well be the case is going to be difficult to see >> that's horrifying it makes you think about a jury that's going to ultimately see this if this goes to trial um and also her family if she's if the family is in the courtroom um let's talk about the medical examiner I actually think the medical examiner is going to be a key witness for multiple reasons. Um, first of all, if you go to the death investigation report, it might be several people. It might be it's it lists out medical examiner investigator Karen Topia, deputy medical examiner Dr. Anzel Nam, supervisor, deputy medical examiner Dr. Grant Hoe, forensic technician Daniel Garcia. Not sure everybody's going to testify, but cause and matter of Celeste's death are key.

[02:00:16]And I do wonder not only what the substance of that testimony is going to be and how it's going to be presented, but also what the defense is going to do, right? Because if you go to the report, it says death was pronounced at the scene. Autopsy examination was limited by extensive post-mortem changes. There are two penetrating wounds of the torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries.

[02:00:39]The wound on the upper abdomen penetrates the liver and the wound on the left chest penetrates one of the left interccoal spaces with disruption of the adjacent ribs cortical surfaces.

[02:00:49]The left lung appears intact. The bilateral upper and lower extremities show full thickness dismemberment.

[02:00:56]Multiple other skin and soft tissue defects are present without apparent associated internal injuries. The ideology of these defects is not clearly apparent due to severe post-mortem changes. Postmortem toxicology performed on liver tissue shows the presence of a low level of ethanol which may be due to post-mortem changes or ingestion and does not appear to be contributo to the cause of death. Given the history and circumstances as currently known by me in the setting of the findings by examination, ancillary studies and in the absence of other definitive causes of death, the cause of death is multiple penetrating injuries. The manner of death is classified as homicide. You will not have this case without that kind of testimony. So, Immran, two questions to you here. One, what can we expect from these witness this witness or witnesses? And two, this to me feels like where we're really going to see the defense challenging the prosecution's evidence because his attorneys originally said when he was arrested, the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death. Talk to me.

[02:02:04]>> Sure. [snorts] So let's take that into two parts, right? From the evidentiary standpoint, what do we hear from these uh medical examiners? Well, certainly the methodology uh that they use in analyzing and evaluating the body, right? That's going to be out there in that courtroom. Uh and again, it goes to the sufficiency of the evidence and what leads the prosecution to bringing these charges uh against Burke, right? So that's what we're going to hear from them. And I'm certainly uh again same same you know you're going to hear about the the condition of the body. It's going to probably be difficult to hear about the decomposition of the body and how they came to the ultimate uh medical opinion or analysis uh as to the manner of death uh and the cause of death uh with those penetration wounds etc. Now pivot to the defense standpoint. This is your opportunity from a defense standpoint to really challenge the evidence. there's so much uh which circumstantially and and the other forensic evidence uh and data and the purchase history and all that that doesn't really bode well uh for for Burke in this case for David in this case but when you look at the me and the the sort of the analysis they did uh that's some ground where you may be able to achieve from a defense standpoint in attacking the sufficiency of that and was this body too decomposed to really uh reasonably get to that opinion from the medical examiner So, we expect that the defense is going to do something right on their end in terms of challenging the evidence. Uh, and I think this may be one point uh one area of evidence that they may be able to score some points.

[02:03:37]>> You know, I think also might testify River uh Riverside County Sheriff's Department deputies because you go back to this idea of trying to establish that there was this alleged relationship between David and Celeste, which makes up its own set of charges, but also goes to the special circumstances, the mode of all that. So, and this goes back to the prosecution's filing. So much of that was about her allegedly, you know, going missing, them going to David, right? Uh trying to contact him, him denying that he had a relationship or really knew her that well, um that didn't know she was a minor. To me, I feel like that's going to be a portion of this case, too. Although, it does become a question, how much does the prosecution need to actually present at a preliminary hearing to meet that low burden?

[02:04:18]>> Yeah, certainly. And I think we may hear it, right? uh because the prosecution uh put put yourself in their shoes for a moment. They want to come in strong.

[02:04:26]They don't want to leave uh anything to chance, right? If you have the evidence uh and you have the testimony, uh you should present it. And I think you may hear about that, right? Sort of that uh evasiveness or you know, untruths potentially as as alleged here uh from David. And um that really does go to a consciousness of guilt potentially. Uh and they want to put that before the court, right? There's no need. You already know about it. The defense already knows about it. No one's sort of scoring any points by keeping it back.

[02:04:57]And I think we may hear that evidence.

[02:04:59]Uh certainly it would benefit the prosecution if they put that before the court. Uh you know, sort of the demeanor and the statements being made uh by David when he is uh you know, brought in for questioning. So, I expect that we're going to hear that evidence.

[02:05:13]>> Before I let you go, one last thought I had was whether or not we are going to hear from David's family as witnesses.

[02:05:19]Number one, you know, we know that there was uh reporting that they were trying to fight the subpoenas to testify, presumably a grand juries or grand jury.

[02:05:26]But we also believe, at least I believe that they may be asked, "What were your interactions with Celeste? What did you see between David and Celeste?" Um, you know, there was this part about it where you go back to the prosecution's filing and they say that uh she had spent significant amount of time with him, including uh at his home in Texas to meet his family, but also the car itself, the Tesla, right? The Tesla itself, there is reporting according to authorities, it was registered to David in Hemstead, Texas. You think his family is going to make an appearance, testify at this preliminary hearing?

[02:06:02]>> Possibly. Right. You know there is that uh interesting fact uh that you just mentioned was that you know he took her to meet his family right so they had the opportunity at that point to observe the relationship their interactions with one another and if the prosecution finds that that's going to somehow move the ball forward here at this hearing you may hear from I certainly think you may hear from them uh if this does go to trial before a jury uh because then obviously uh the the uh depth of the evidence and the broadness of the evidence uh is going to be all the the much more greater there. Um so you may hear from them at this preliminary hearing, you may not. I don't think the prosecution necessarily has to call them. Uh and also with the registration of the car, they may be able to get that in in in certain other ways, take judicial notice of the registration of the car. Uh but you know, they are potential witnesses here and certainly at trial, I think you may hear from them.

[02:06:56]>> Imran, I'm sorry.

[02:07:02]Okay. Um, see, yeah, I'm just gonna have to maybe I'll come back on. I need I don't know. That was getting overwhelming.

[02:07:16]I didn't even have the ear I had to take the earphones off, so I couldn't even hear. But I'm going to go downstairs and walk around, I think.

[02:07:23]Um, all right, guys. Thanks. Um, I might come back later and do the uh last update or I might include whatever the after lunch update with um tomorrow when we do tomorrow. I probably will start late tomorrow um like I did today. So there's we're not waiting around so much.

[02:07:56]No, nothing's happening. We're just I'm just uh going over the preliminary update, but I'm start I'm having a little panic attack here. I don't know.

[02:08:03]Sorry. Um All right. I'll see you either later today or tomorrow morning sometime. Okay. Thanks for coming. Bye.