The latest on the d4vd murder case with attorney Rachel Fiset

[00:00:00]A hearing to determine if there's enough evidence for singer David to stand trial for murder resumes this morning.

[00:00:05]>> He's accused of killing 14-year-old Celeste Riveras Hernandez and dismembering her body. More testimonies and evidence are expected to be presented in court on day two of this preliminary hearing. Cameras are not allowed inside the courtroom. Yesterday, the singer, whose legal name is David Burke, sat in court as prosecutors laid out evidence against him. It was difficult for the victim's parents, of course, to see crime scene photos of their daughter's body.

[00:00:28]>> Mercedes hasn't still hasn't been able to wrap her head around that Celeste was killed in such a gruesome, horrible manner.

[00:00:38]She just it she can't understand how anyone could be so vile.

[00:00:46]>> I'm sure it's very difficult. Burke has pleaded not guilty. The hearing is set to resume at about 9:30 this morning.

[00:00:52]Attorney Rachel Fiset has been following this case since the beginning and joins us now with her insight. Thank you for being with us. You know, we've been talking about this preliminary hearing and it does include this graphic evidence and testimony.

[00:01:03]What are prosecutors trying to establish at this stage? And why is it necessary to show all of this right now?

[00:01:10]>> They are trying to establish probable cause, and probable cause is not the standard beyond a reasonable doubt. The judge simply has to determine that there is enough evidence on each count that has been alleged plus the special circumstances to go forward to trial where the prosecutors will do it again with more evidence in more detail in front of a jury. So, that is what they're trying to establish, but each piece of evidence is going to a specific element of one of the crimes or special circumstances that have been alleged, and the evidence is gruesome. It is awful. I think the murder has been established. There's not much more to do here relating to the fact that he there's probable cause for this to proceed. and It's just each of the counts, each of the elements, and unfortunately that is painstaking.

[00:02:05]>> Right. There's a lot of elements here.

[00:02:07]You brought up those special circumstances, so let's talk about those. Lying in wait, murder for financial gain, and murder of a witness, and the DA will decide whether to seek the death penalty. What makes those allegations particularly difficult to prove in court?

[00:02:19]>> Well, in short, the allegation is that he got her a ride share to come to her house in April and killed her at that point, knowing he was going to kill her.

[00:02:33]He brought her there. That's lying in wait. There are text messages as it relates to them having a fight. She is threatening to expose him. Everybody knows that having a relationship with a 14-year-old is illegal. And there was apparently an investigation already into the statutory rape that that is being alleged between him and her. So, those are the two other elements. That he's killing a witness as part of that investigation. And he's doing it for financial gain, which is so she doesn't expose him and kill his career. He was about to launch his second album.

[00:03:12]>> Mhm. Yeah, at the same time, Burke's defense team strongly maintaining his innocence. Of course, they they would as his defense team, even though the evidence presented publicly appears overwhelming. What are the biggest legal hurdles prosecutors still face though before they can secure a conviction here?

[00:03:28]>> Well, again, we're just at the probable cause stage and I don't see a lot of legal hurdles here. I'll I'll be honest.

[00:03:35]What I think we're going to see once this case proceeds is a lot of fighting the evidence, a lot of arguing with how it was collected, uh whether it's admissible, whether it connects him to the crime or not. So, I think they're going to really go through each of the all of the evidence, and there is so so much of it. And the defense is going to pick apart whether that evidence can be used in court. And they will come up with creative arguments, they will come up with process. They're already bringing up how police collected it, what the process was at at in the investigation for the collection. So, I think we're going to see a lot of procedural arguments, uh some of which will likely win. Uh so, that's really what we will be we will be watching for between the time this hearing is over and the time of a trial.

[00:04:37]>> Okay, we'll continue to watch this, Rachel. We appreciate your insight this morning, and it is so much evidence in this case, and a lot of it very graphic.

[00:04:42]Thank you for being with us.