D4vd’s Defense Team Says Evidence Will Show D4vd Is NOT The Killer As CSAM Evidence Comes Out

Summary

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Rotten Mango: D4vd’s Defense Team Says Evidence Will Show D4vd Is NOT The Killer As CSAM Evidence Comes Out

Podcast: Rotten Mango
Host: Stephanie Soo
Release Date: May 24, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode is Part Four in a deep-dive series following the arrest of musician David Anthony Burke (d4vd) for the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Host Stephanie Soo breaks down the legal and courtroom developments as d4vd’s high-profile defense team prepares for a preliminary hearing, responds to the prosecution’s growing evidence—including allegations of CSAM (child sexual abuse material)—and the messy public reactions swirling around the families, legal teams, and internet at large.

Stephanie unpacks:

• Who is on d4vd’s legal team and their reputations
• The presiding judge’s style
• The DA’s evidence strategy (including massive digital files and damaging autopsy details)
• Both families’ responses and internet speculation
• What to expect as the case moves forward

The episode is packed with legal explainer, discussion of court drama, and thoughtful analysis about justice, accountability, and the risk of online witch hunts.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. The Defense Team and Their Controversies

[00:55–10:44]

• Lead Attorney: Blair Burke, a prominent Hollywood defense attorney, formerly repped Harvey Weinstein, and has made controversial public statements on feminism and sexual assault.
• Burke’s Views: Stephanie quotes and critiques Burke’s nuanced (and at times “unhinged” and troubling) philosophy on sexual misconduct and women’s agency.
  • Notable Quote (Burke):
    “We are infantilizing women. It’s a thing as feminists we don’t want to do, which is to claim a woman doesn’t have the ability to choose.” [03:30]
  • Host questions Burke’s claim to feminism while minimizing survivors on social media.
• Defense Team Additions: Death penalty specialist Marilyn Bednarsky and Regina Peter join, indicating the case’s seriousness.
• Presiding Judge: Judge Charlene Almedo, known for strictness and composure, previously presided over high-profile sexual assault cases (like Danny Masterson).
  • Judge Almedo’s Reputation:
    Stressed fairness, precision, preparation—“You don’t show up to her courtroom unless you’re prepared.” [07:40]
• Courtroom Dynamics:
  • The defense appeared less polished than Deputy DA Beth Silverman in early hearings.
  • Blair Burke is rumored to sometimes drop high-profile clients before trial; skepticism exists about whether she’ll stay with d4vd to the end. “[She] doesn’t do many homicide trials” and her record is questioned by netizens. [16:54]

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2. Money, Fame & Legal Maneuvering

[10:44–16:55]

• Legal Fees: Defense for such a case may cost millions; speculation on whether d4vd has enough post-label drop, but he continues to rake in major streaming revenue.
• Public Curiosity:
  “A lot of people are like, how can David afford Blair Burke?...He’s still getting, even on Spotify, 23 million streams a month.” [11:13–12:19]
• Burke's Defense Heuristic: She claims the “mob” makes her essential as a lawyer—“The most important time for a criminal defense lawyer is when the mob is out. Right. I’m very proud of what I’m doing as a woman, as a feminist, as a criminal defense lawyer.” [16:55]

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3. The Courtroom: Cameras, Delays, and Discovery Drama

[17:15–25:47]

• No Cameras Allowed: Judge Almedo made clear, “No cameras in the courtroom. It’s up to me. And no.” [17:54]
• D4vd’s Court Demeanor:
  • Alleged to be “bored, unengaged,” save for a reported wink at his attorney after a successful delay.
  • “He just kind of looks bored. There hasn’t really been any notable intel about how he looks in any of the hearings.” [17:51]
• Preliminary Hearing Delays:
  • Defense initially pushed for a speedy hearing (unusual), then backtracked, seeking more prep and discovery—now set for June 29.
  • DA Beth Silverman claims there’s massive discovery (40–50 terabytes), slow digital handover due to sheer scale. “Only 30% of the LAPD’s case file has been uploaded. There’s a voluminous amount of digital data in this case.” [35:05]

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4. The Evidence War: Prosecution Goes Public, Defense Pushes Back

[25:47–39:54]

• DA’s Strategic Move:
  • Silverman files a “pre-preliminary hearing brief”—rarely done at this stage—detailing what evidence will be presented and controlling the narrative. [27:11]
  • Defense objects, claiming it risks prejudicing the future jury pool and should be sealed. Judge refuses: “This case is not unique in that aspect.” [30:50]
  • Silverman responds bluntly: “It’s the people’s brief, not the defense’s brief...Naturally, it’s going to be one-sided. Basically. Why would the people put in your two cents?” [30:52]
• Tech Struggles & Evidence Size:
  • Clashes over discovery handover hardware. Defense provides 1-terabyte, then 5-terabyte drives, but prosecutors need 10+ terabyte devices to cover the data.
    • “You give us an open box. We need a sealed hard drive like in the original packaging.” [39:24]
  • CSAM (child sexual abuse material) evidence can only be accessed on a law-enforcement computer in-court due to legal restrictions.

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5. Speculations on Defenses, Family Roles & Online Sentiment

[39:54–51:17]

• Potential Defense Tactics:
  • Insanity defense unlikely.
  • Most likely: argue Celeste OD’d and d4vd only covered up; but autopsy found no drugs in her system.
    • “There doesn’t seem to be drugs in her system that the defense could point to and say, see, she OD’d.” [39:54]
  • Defense may try to force ambiguity—autopsy confirms homicide but not the knife-wielder.
• Family Knowledge & Reactions:
  • Ongoing internet debate: Did d4vd’s parents and sibling know Celeste was underage? Did they aid the cover-up?
    • “People cannot grasp the concept that David’s parents believed she was of age. She clearly doesn’t look of age in any photos…” [44:12]
  • Legal maneuvering: Parents and brother Caleb (now 18) fought grand jury subpoenas in Texas, and David transferred property into his mother’s trust post-arrest.
    • “If the DA needs parents to testify, then they have no case…they have been somewhat aware that an arrest was a possibility.” [49:32]
  • Caleb’s stance: Unfollowed David; posted “All rapists and pedophiles should die. Period.” [51:18]
  • Caleb releases music amid case, sparking debate over insensitive timing.
    • “If my brother killed somebody, what does that have to do with me?...He is someone who is way too close to this case for this to be anything but in bad taste…” [55:45]
    • Supporters note he’s denounced David and changed his stage name to distance himself.

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6. Celeste’s Family & Community Response

[59:52–66:24]

• Celeste's Family Statement (via attorney):
  • They deny rumors of taking money from d4vd; are “absolutely devastated” by the autopsy.
    • “There are no words to express the indescribable pain the family is experiencing right now.” [61:00]
  • Praised for immediate missing person report and endured a police investigation, which found no evidence of neglect.
• Nuanced Judgement:
  • Stephanie discusses the intersection of socioeconomic barriers, immigration status, and lackluster police action as factors in Celeste’s vulnerability.
    • “You’re also talking about a time that’s heavy with probably ICE presence. Immigration status could also play a role.” [63:00]
  • Online judgment against parents is debated; most agree blame lies with David.

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7. Complexities of the Case: London, Lyrics, and Pending Charges

[66:24–70:22]

• London Trip:
  • Celeste reportedly traveled to London with David, raising legal/parental consent questions. A passport was found discarded; it’s unclear if family sanctioned travel.
  • Possible link between Celeste’s voice in d4vd’s “String Theory Interlude” and trip timing.
• Pending Charges:
  • CSAM discovery strongly highlighted by the DA in court, fueling speculation of additional federal/state charges.
    • “She’s like really honing in on the CSAM. So that’s why people think, yes, it’s to emphasize how deplorable the evidence is that they found. But also, maybe there are extra charges coming his way.” [66:24]
• Status:
  • d4vd is segregated in jail due to notoriety.
  • DA expected to push for trial; host doubts any plea deal will be offered or accepted.

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8. Explainers: Legal Process, Next Steps & Timeline

[20:42, 23:16, 71:03, 72:17]

• Preliminary Hearing:
  • In CA, even after arrest/complaint, judge must find enough evidence to proceed.
  • Hearsay is allowed if it comes from police at this stage.
• Trial Timeline:
  • Prosecutor may “set a trial date within the next 60 days,” but actual trial likely years away.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Burke’s views:

  “Just because you’re a woman and make a claim on Instagram doesn’t make you a victim.” —Blair Burke [04:55]

• On Judge Almedo’s strictness:

  “You don’t show up to her courtroom unless you’re prepared.” —Stephanie [07:40]

• On court discovery drama:

  “You give us an open box. We need a sealed hard drive in the original packaging.” —Beth Silverman [39:24]

• On family’s awareness:

  “If the DA needs parents to testify, then they have no case. In my opinion, they’re just doing that for harassment purposes.” —Burke family attorney [49:32]

• On the DA’s confidence:

  “Beth Silverman seems super confident. David’s team seems a little less confident.” —Stephanie [35:52]

• On online judgment:

  “Once literally every action is interpreted in the worst possible light, it stops being about fairness and starts being about emotional projection.” —Netizen [55:45]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• 01:00–10:44: Profiling Blair Burke, her philosophy, and the judge’s background
• 10:44–16:55: Money, defense team composition, lawyer rumors
• 17:15–25:47: Courtroom atmosphere, hearing delays, cameras ban
• 25:47–39:54: Evidence handover drama, DA’s strategy, size of digital evidence, “fuck ass five terabyte drive” story
• 39:54–51:17: Family awareness, property transfers, and online debate about who’s to blame
• 51:17–59:52: Caleb’s music, public reactions, and his statement
• 59:52–66:24: Celeste’s family, statements, police/family dynamics
• 66:24–70:22: London trip questions, CSAM focus, DA’s intentions
• 70:22–73:57: Legal process explainer, expectations for the preliminary hearing, plea deal/trial timeline

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Conclusion & What’s Next

• The preliminary hearing is now set for late June; Beth Silverman promises fireworks with huge digital evidence and no intention to seal details.
• The DA is poised for a tough prosecution, while the defense’s cohesion and tactics are being scrutinized.
• More information is expected as the preliminary hearing proceeds, with much attention on the role of the CSAM evidence and possible survival of both family and internet narratives.
• Stephanie will continue to update with further developments.

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For listeners who missed the earlier episodes, Stephanie recommends catching up for full background and context.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

She's talking about this case.

[A]

No. So this is an interview that she did around the time that she's representing Harvey Weinstein. So this is not particularly about David's case, but this is how she views.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

What she does for work. She says, we are infantilizing women. It's a thing as feminists, we don't want to do, which is to claim that a woman doesn't have the ability to choose. This is a very, very high profile celebrity attorney, by the way. She's represented mel Gibson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Caitlyn Jenner, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Kanye West, Reese Witherspoon, but also Harvey Weinstein. It seems that her career trajectory went from representing a lot of celebrities for celebrity like crimes, divorces, intoxication, paparazzi, run ins. But after repping Harvey Weinstein, it seems like she's become a defender of those that have been accused of sa, which is dangerous, considering she believes and says things like this. Or at least it's dangerous in my opinion. Right. I think it's dangerous. But what do I know? She says things like the idea of someone going on Instagram or Twitter and making accusations, all of a sudden, that's enough to destroy a life. I don't think any of us want to accept that, and we shouldn't, because when they come to our son or our father or our husband, we would want someone to care. The process. It's also really dangerous because with that comes this horrible slogan, believe women, as if some gender by definition only speaks the truth. She also says that the statute of limitations is very important. But even the way she phrases it, she says, if you were a victim of a crime, you need to report it, and there are reasons for it because the freshness of it allows it to be a reflection of evidence. If you wait 20 years just because you didn't feel like it, that creates a problem. No victim waits 20 years to go to the authorities because they just didn't feel like it, because they felt like they had other things that they wanted to do. And in the interview, she does the thing that makes me. Just makes one instantly question her. She says, my colleague, Alan Dershowitz. Alan fucking Dershowitz. Alan Fucking lives in the Epstein files. Dershowitz, okay, so she mentions an op ed that he wrote. So there's that. But what do you expect from the woman who literally has said, quote, just because you're a woman and make a claim on Instagram doesn't make you a victim. I do think that defense attorneys play an integral part of our justice system. And sure, it is her job. But she really did not have to do this interview. She really did not have to say these things and also say that she's a feminist while saying that just because a girl has an Instagram and an accusation doesn't make her a victim. Putting down women in such a condescending manner when they are probably going through some of the most traumatic moments of their lives. To trivialize that to be a girl on social media you're not a victim is just so like, it's harmful in ways that I can't even begin to express. Yes, she can be a criminal defense attorney and a feminist, and she probably could represent people who have been accused of essay and be all those three things at once. But to me, I can't fathom how you can be a feminist and say these specific things. I don't think that anyone was upset with her for representing Harvey Weinstein. I mean, yeah, people were, but I think these comments in the interview are pretty asinine. David retained Blair Burke last year when Celeste's body was first discovered in his car. He has since added Marilyn Bednarsky, a death penalty defense attorney in la, because technically, David could face the death penalty. She's also just very experienced, with over a hundred jury trials tried in federal court under her belt, as well as Regina Peter from Blair Burke's firm. The judge presiding over the case is Judge Charlene Almido. She is a former prosecutor. She runs a strict program. She has a reputation of precision, fairness, composure. A lot of attorneys have stated you don't show up to her courtroom unless you're prepared. She has presided over the very high profile trial of Danny Masterson, that 70s shows actor that was accused and convicted of essay. He was the one where I think a lot of people, this might ring a bigger bell. Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis wrote those character witness statements in favor of Danny Masterson, the man that is convicted of essay. And they did this whole weird apology video that was weird. But during the sentencing, she tells Danny Masterson, I know you're sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that you feel has failed you. And I'm sure you're asking yourself how you can be convicted of each charge of a sexual incident occurring 20 years ago based on the testimony of a woman that you believe is disgruntled and has a vendetta against you. But you are not convicted on the testimony of one person, although the testimony of one person is sufficient evidence. You were not convicted based on rumors, innuendo, gossip, or speculation. You were convicted based on the testimony and evidence that 12 people from the community found to be credible. In addition, shortly after, you paid Jane Doe 1 approximately $400,000 to keep quiet about the charged incident. And while some may argue whether you believed her story was true or not, you just didn't want the bad publicity. She was seeking money from you. Close to half a million dollars. An awful lot to pay for the silence about an incident you claim never happened. That's a bad look. So, Mr. Masterson, you are not the victim here. Your actions 20 years ago took away another person's voice and choice. Ultimately, one way or another, you will have to come to terms that. That with both your prior actions and subsequent consequences. She then slapped him with the maximum sentence, stating as to count one, a violation of penal code. I sentenced Mr. Masterson to be imprisoned in state prison for a term of 15 years to life. Count to imprison for 15 years to life. I order them to run consecutive. So you can be. Your terms can be concurrent, which means served at the same time, which I don't understand the purpose of that. So it's like both. Let's say you have 15 years. 15 years. Technically you would think it's 30, but they're like, you can serve them simultaneously, concurrently. So you only serve 15 years. But she said consecutively. So charge one 15 years once, that's up another 15 years. The total sentence is 30 years to life. There have been a few hearings in court so far, all ramping up to the preliminary hearing. And the first three hearings, I will say the defense team, Blair Burke, seemed a bit not as collected as Deputy DA Beth Silverman.

[B]

So I'm assuming she's very, very expensive, right? In that caliber?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, right.

[A]

I don't know for sure, but there were estimates that Danny Masterson's trial, because he also had a really high profile team, probably cost him like five, $10 million easily. And that was essay charges. This is. We're already talking about lots of discovery, lots of evidence, and murder charge, potentially death penalty.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

A lot of people are like, how can David afford Blair Burke? I don't necessarily know how much David has made previously in his career, but he was dropped from his label. And it sounds like a bad thing, right? It's like, oh, he was dropped from his label, which means he's not making any more money. When the Celeste body was found, he was dropped from his label. However, it kind of almost gave him the rights to his songs back. Like he doesn't have to split as much licensing, it appears. So he's still getting even on Spotify. He's still getting like 23 million streams a month. I tried to cross reference with how much other artists were reporting on Reddit that they were getting paid as being the sole owner of their songs. I mean, he still probably has to pay royalties to the people who co wrote the songs, helped produce the songs, but it's didn't.

[B]

Doesn't he make his own stuff in the closet?

[A]

Yeah, but there's lots of producers that worked on his Withered album and he could potentially be making close to like a million dollars a month from streams.

[B]

Dang.

[A]

I don't know, because streaming is like such a weird. I'm just going based off of what people said on Reddit of how much they make per stream on certain platforms. And then I tried adding it up. My math could be horribly off. So don't trust me on this. 20 million listens right now, 23 million on Spotify. That's not including Apple Music or other streaming platforms. The only place that he's not making money is YouTube. So YouTube very quickly demonetized his account. So none of his music videos are bringing in money. Yeah, I think that he's going to end up using most, if not all and more on his legal defense team. And I do think anything after that is. I mean, I do hope that Celeste's family bring on a civil suit, so. But I don't even know what would be left at that point. With Instacart, you don't have to choose between quality and convenience. You can shop from your favorite stores and have quality groceries and household essentials carefully selected and ready for pickup or delivered to your door through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes. You can be specific about what you want, communicate directly with your shopper, and get groceries selected with the same care that you would take yourself. Order online or via the app and schedule delivery on your schedule. My favorite part about Instacart is the simple fact that it just saves me so much time. Fresh fruit is a classic dessert staple in our household, especially when we have guests over, or my parents because some of them are diabetic. So when your family drops in or drops off dinner and we don't have fresh fruit available, Instacart has saved us countless times. I'll just order on the app and then by the time we're finished with dinner, fresh fruit, a fruit platter, or whatever dessert staple your family enjoys is at your door ready to be enjoyed. I love it. Instacart brings convenience, quality and ease right to your door so you can focus on what matters most. Download the Instacart app now and get groceries just how you like. So many people are focused on where their money is today. Acorns is the financial wellness app that cares about where your money is going tomorrow and with the Acorns potential screen you can find out what your money is capable of. Acorns is easy. You can sign up in minutes and start automatically investing your spare money even if all you've got is spare change. Sign up now and Acorns will boost your new account with a five dollar bonus. Investment join the over 14 million all time customers who have already saved and invested over $27 billion with Acorns. Head to acorns.com rotten or download the Acorns app to get started. Paid non client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns tier 2 compensation provided potential subject to various factors such as customers, account age and investment does not include Acorns fees. Results do not predict or represent the performance of any Acorns portfolio investment Results will vary. Investing involves risks. Acorn Advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. View important [e-mail] Rotten having insurance isn't the Same as having State Farm. It's like showing up for movie night ready for a heart pounding thriller, but getting a three hour documentary on lawn care? That's kind of like insurance. Insurance may all seem the same on the surface, but when it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. You wouldn't settle for a snooze fest when you came for a thrill ride. So don't settle for just any insurance when there's State Farm. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. So it seems like Blair Burke is familiarizing herself with everything going on. She doesn't seem as quick with it as Deputy DA Beth Silverman, which is to be expected. It seems that. But Silverman has been working on this case for at least months and months and months and months. However, there are rumors that Blair Burke might not even take this case to trial. Someone who claims that they have worked with Blair Burke before states that she has a tendency to take on celebrity cases before really looking into them, and that she probably may quit sometime during the trial or before the trial. One Reddit comment is talking about the person that knows Blair Burke. He apparently has a YouTube channel. He's an attorney. I think it's like Bruce Lawyer and they write, he says that she predicts she's going to step down before it even goes to trial. Either because the family runs out of money or because she won't like what she sees in discovery, or because it'll be obvious that he did it. And she's already said some bold things about this case that she's like, oh, it's going to show he didn't do it. People are also saying Blair Burke doesn't necessarily seem like the type to do murder trials. She seems like the Hollywood fixer type.

[B]

Mm. Interesting.

[A]

But she did say in a previous interview, I never hesitate to get a client. That's what I love. That's what I do. The most important time for a criminal defense lawyer is when the mob is out. Right. I'm very proud of what I'm doing as a woman, as a feminist, as a criminal defense lawyer, we as women should not want injustice. But as for Blair Burke, one comment reads, she doesn't do many homicide trials. Her last murder client got life in prison. So not a stellar record there. That's what they write now. During the first few hearings in court, David appeared to be emotionless. He doesn't really show a lot of emotions, just kind of looking around the courtroom. But he's intently looking around the courtroom. It's just like he's just kind of gazing out, seeing what's going on.

[B]

Is that like the video clip that we saw?

[A]

Yes. That was not Judge Almedo. That was a different judge for his arraignment. And Judge Almedo is not a fan of cameras in the courtroom. This is a state case, which usually lots of state cases are live streamed. I highly doubt this will be live streamed.

[B]

How do you know she's not a fan of the camera?

[A]

So the same thing happened with Diddy's trial, where all these legacy medias, they have attorneys representing them, and they'll come and they'll try to talk to the judge in open court. So this is all in, like, court transcripts. And they'll be like, hey, we need to either see something, or we want cameras in the courtroom. So this, in this case, the attorney came up and was like, I'm representing Lexi Media, enlisting all the media companies, and, like, we want cameras in the courtroom. And she's like, no. She was like, no, dang. She's like, it's up to me. And no. And she's citing the law, too. She's citing codes, like law code. She's like, because of this? No. I can say no because of no. So I don't think she's gonna allow cameras in the courtroom, which might be for the best. This is kind of similar to Luigi's trial in New York City, which is the first trial is going to be in state court, not federal court. So we know federal court. There's no cameras in the courtroom. State court, a lot of judges will let cameras in. It's up to the discretion of the judges. But Luigi's judge also does not seem to be a fan of cameras. But he looks kind of bored. That's the best way to describe David. He just kind of looks bored. There hasn't really been any notable intel about how he looks in any of the hearings. He just looks distant, bored, unengaged. Except the last one. He apparently winked at his attorney. Allegedly.

[B]

What do you mean? Just. Just a quick wink.

[A]

Yeah. They were able to push back his preliminary hearing by a month. And it's reported that after hearing that, when David was led back, he winked at his attorney. I don't know. Maybe there was something in his eye. It could have been a lint ball. It could have been a wink. But that's been the reporting. So he looks bored. And he has pled not guilty. And his attorneys have stated. Let us be clear. The actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was the cause of her death. We will vigorously defend David's innocence. We would like to have the evidence come into the light of day. Meanwhile, the prosecutors are like, oh, you want the evidence to come into light of day? We're going to drop a pre preliminary hearing brief. Okay. This is where there's so much, like, legal context. And I don't know how many people care about this, but it might be important. If you watch the very first audio episode of the updates, I kind of went into the grand jury charging grand juries, which result in an indictment. And so there's multiple ways that someone can get arrested in state court in California, which is a grand jury, comes with a true bill of indictment. So this is. They voted. The DA went to the grand jurors and was like, can you vote? They're like, yes, here we go. Indictment. David Burke gets arrested, he's indicted. This is. You see this happen in federal cases. Because that's how it always happens in federal cases. Indictment, arrest. Right. Or it's like, arrest, and then we find out about the indictment, but it's already been filed. So then in California, this is not that common.

[B]

What's not common? Indictment.

[A]

Indictments are not common in the state of California on a state level. And that's because, for example, in a lot of places, when you get indicted, you don't really get a preliminary hearing.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Because you've already been indicted.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So they're like, yeah, you can go to trial, a preliminary hearing. What that is, is the prosecution presents evidence to the judge and the judge decides if they're going to go to trial.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

The judge has to be like, okay, this is enough evidence that we have to try the case. I'm not saying you're guilty, but we have to try the case. So that's the whole purpose of a preliminary hearing. And lots of DAs, if they don't, they don't want a preliminary hearing because

[B]

they don't want to give away their.

[A]

Yeah. And also the defense in the preliminary hearing can actually prepare, prepare and ask questions to the witnesses that the prosecutors are bringing up. They can basically cross examine witnesses. Like a mini cross. Yeah, they don't like that. The DA's are like, we don't like that. That's annoying. We don't like it. Now in the state of California, even if you are indicted, you can legally request a preliminary hearing. So it's kind of pointless. It's pointless because you're indicted. So in most cases, like federal case, you're going straight to trial. I mean, you're gonna have tons of status conferences and all these things and hearings, but you're going to trial.

[B]

Yeah. What are we doing? Or why are we doing another.

[A]

Yeah, but in the state of California, you can request it anyway. So people will usually just file a criminal complaint, which is the D. A files a criminal complaint and then the suspect is arrested or the target is arrested, whatever.

[B]

So who filed, who requested this preliminary hearing?

[A]

Well, you have to have a preliminary hearing. Oh, okay. So basically at any point there needs to be a decision made where there is enough evidence to go to trial. Yeah, right. Indictment. The grand jurors decide there is enough evidence to go to trial.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So on a federal level, they just go to trial. Yeah, if they plead not guilty. Right. They go to trial. But in California state, even if the grand jurors say there's enough to go to trial, the defendant can say, no, I want the judge to reconfirm this. Basically, I want a preliminary hearing. Okay. But there was no indictment in this, just a criminal complaint. Then David gets arrested. Well, David is arrested, then there's a criminal complaint. So now someone needs to decide if there's enough to go to trial, which is they have to Have a preliminary hearing.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Now, here's the interesting thing. Preliminary hearings. Legally, the defendant is allowed those in a timely manner. I think it's like 10 court days. So if within 10 court days, the prosecutors can't pull it off, or the prosecutors are unprepared, they do the preliminary hearing. The judge is like, you guys have nothing. Then the defendant is free to go. Like, you can't just keep them until you're ready to do a preliminary hearing. So the defendant is usually like, okay, maybe we'll go with the preliminary hearing. If they feel like there's not enough evidence.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So Blair Burke, she's coming into these court hearings, and she's like, yes, my client would like a timely preliminary hearing. Let's schedule it. So the first schedule was like, May 1st. Okay. Then they're like, we need some of the information that the prosecutors have so we can prepare for the preliminary hearing. And this is where it gets very tricky, because just like the law, it's. The defense is entitled to discovery for the trial. Like, there is different, but you're not entitled to all the discovery for the preliminary hearing. Yeah, there's like, certain benchmarks I think they have to meet, like certain discovery they have to turn over. So it's been like a whole headache. And then it got pushed to May 26, and then the defense is like, maybe we need a little bit longer. So now it's June 29th. And this is the thing. I mean, the fact that they were even wanting it so soon is unheard of. Usually the defendants don't want a quick preliminary hearing. They want the defense to prepare as long as possible. They want to go through the discovery. They want to study it. They want to know, you know, kind of what to expect, who they expect to testify, to cross examine. Now, I. I don't think any of the star witnesses are going to testify. Just putting that out there, you know, I think it's going to be lots of police officers, and I think it's going to be forensic experts.

[B]

So. Okay, so this is my understanding, my little. What I'm getting out of this is that at first, David's team was like, okay, let's just do this thing. Because I think they think they maybe can get away with it. Let's just get it over with.

[A]

Yet sometimes the. From what I can tell online is. And from lawyers who have been speaking up about this is that a defendant will push the attorney to want it sooner because they're like, I just want to get out of here. Like, I'm just Like, come on, let's go. Yeah.

[B]

And then as the day started to approach, they were like, wait, wait, wait. Hold on, hold on. We need to be better prepared, you know? Can. Can. Can you guys give me more.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Information. So that's when the real. Okay, yeah, I see.

[A]

And I think there was a lot of conversation and even almost fear mongering of people saying, well, he wasn't indicted, so the prosecut might not be ready. The prosecutors have no idea what they're doing because he wasn't indicted and it already took seven months to arrest him. Like, they're a mess. But in the state of California, on a state level, most felony charges do not come with an indictment. They come with a criminal complaint, and there is a prelim.

[B]

Okay, so you're saying they're. You think they're totally ready.

[A]

Yeah. And then just like, seeing the way Beth Silverman is conducting herself in these hearings, she seems like she knows what the.

[B]

Is that the da, right?

[A]

She's the deputy D. A. She's in charge of this case. Yes, but there was also questions of, oh, well, David was arrested before the criminal complaint, so maybe the LAPD arrested them. And the DA's office is scrambling. Right. But it doesn't seem like that Beth Silverman is coming here locked and loaded. She seems like she. She's been ready.

[B]

She's the one that said there's 40 terabytes of evidence.

[A]

Evidence, yes, yes. And the. The defense was saying things like, you know, we hope all the evidence will come to light and see the light of day. And that is when the prosecutors drop the pre preliminary hearing brief, which is a bit unusual. People don't really drop it at this stage, but it seems like they had the opening. The defense was already like, we want the evidence to come to light. Prosecutors are like, okay, bet, like, we're gonna drop this brief. And also if it's a way to control the narrative for them, and it's, I guess in a good way, it's to educate the judge on what has been happening behind the scenes so that the judge is also very aware. Now, Blair Burke and her team did not like that. They were like, we gotta seal this shit. Seal it. We don't. This cannot be public. Blair Burke said, you, Honor, late this morning, we received a digital copy of what appeared to be a pre preliminary hearing brief filed by the prosecution. I come to the court with a very serious concern given the, I think what can be characterized as the extreme media attention so far in this case, and the prosecution has appeared to file A rather unusual, in my experience, pre preliminary hearing brief that appears to be a very one sided version of what is anticipated as the evidence in this case. But no evidence has been presented by the prosecution in a courtroom. Certainly there has been no adjudication of the admissibility of that evidence. There's no ruling basically of if that evidence is, you know, enough to go to trial. And we have a very real concern about the reasonable possibility of the jury pool at a future trial being tainted. She goes on to say that the brief even includes hearsay. Your Honor, we would ask the court to seal the people's brief. We were not. Obviously we've come at the earliest possible opportunity to do so. Beth Silverman hits back. I've certainly never heard of the defense claiming that a people's filing is one sided. I'm laying out what I believe to be the evidence that's been unearthed over the last several months and what the people intend to present court during a preliminary hearing. It's interesting because whenever I handle these types of cases that tend to garner media attention by the time the trial rolls around, which is, as the court is aware, years down the road, usually many people on the panels don't even know about the case. Beth Silverman goes on to state, we've had cases that garnered much more media attention than this one. And I can think of one that's going on right now. I think she's referencing Nick Reiner.

[B]

Really? Okay, what is she saying about it?

[A]

No, I, she's just saying, I can think of one right now that's getting more attention than this one. I think that's a reference to Nick Reiner, but I mean, this is LA county. Like you're talking about Menendez brothers asap. Rocky was recently tried. Like it's LA County.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

She goes on to state, more or less. Hey, so I mean, we're gonna even bring all this to open court in a few weeks anyway. So what do you mean you want it sealed? Like there's nothing in there that's gonna be sealed in open court? Like what kind of logic? Basically, that's what Beth Silverman is saying. And she says, but I'd certainly like to see what the legal authority is that counsel claims it has before I make any other statements. Blair Burke argues it's an entirely one sided narrative regarding what the prosecution believes they will seek to admit in court at the preliminary hearing or what the prosecution claims will be the testimony in a preliminary hearing of witnesses. We do have a very real concern about the amount of white hot focus of attention on this case for the last seven months and specifically in the last two weeks. And we are very much concerned with guaranteeing David the right, as he is presumed innocent in this courtroom as we sit here today, the right to a fair trial. And we believe that this brief, if not sealed, will harm and compromise that right. The judge sides with Beth Silverman, the people, you know that she will not be sealing the brief, hitting on the fact that LA county is the most populous county in the entire nation. Louisiana county routinely has high profile cases, including celebrities. And quote, this case is not unique in that aspect. And I know Ms. Burke, and this is not to undermine your own characterization of extreme media tension. In this court's experience, this media attention is no different than the court has seen in other high profile cases.

[B]

Wow. Wow.

[A]

As for her saying that the people's brief is one sided, she's like, well, yeah, it's the fucking people's brief, not the defense's brief. She says it's their brief. Just like any filing by the defense would be one sided in the sense that it would be a proponent of the defense position. Naturally, it's going to be one sided. Basically. Why would the people put in your two cents. The defense is like, okay, fine, we want to quickly get a preliminary hearing and we want a lot of this discovery right now. Blair Burke was saying, this is like before. She kept pushing it back. She's like, from the media reports, apparently there have been four months of secret grand jury proceedings. We believe that Mr. Burke is entitled at the earliest opportunity to an open preliminary hearing and the proceedings not be done in secret. So we are asking for a preliminary hearing to be set at the earliest possible date on the 10th day. So this is like, they keep pushing it back and back and back and wait.

[B]

So they wanted a quick in that moment and then they keep pushing it back after that.

[A]

She also states that she wants discovery, that they have no discovery. Basically, quote, we have been given almost no discovery thus far. We've received a three page follow up report, no autopsy report, and a copy of the complaint. And we would ask the people, respectfully to produce discovery at the earliest opportunity. Beth Silverman is like, your honor, as I indicated to Counsel, there's approximately 40 terabytes of discovery in this case. Moreover, in order to obtain the transcripts from a grand jury investigation. So she's like, blair Burke is asking me for grand jury transcripts. Counsel has to file a motion. She knows the way the system works.

[B]

Mm. She's not doing it.

[A]

So she's like saying, oh, I didn't get the grand jury transcripts. And Beth is like, you didn't fucking file a motion to get him.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because she didn't say it like that.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. So Beth is like, she's not. She doesn't know what she's doing.

[A]

Yeah, she's like, she knows the way the system works. I'm not able to gather those. They have to be provided after the court orders them released because it was an investigation. Second of all, if council plans on going to a preliminary hearing within 10 days, it is unlikely that there will be very much discovery provided within that period, given the voluminous nature and how long it's going to take to copy into drives. In addition to that, the coroner's report was sealed in this case in order to prevent it from hampering the truthful testimony from witnesses that testify at the grand jury. Which is kind of interesting to think about. But.

[B]

Wait, why is it interesting?

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Like, how would anybody know? So they're implying they don't want someone potentially know the state of.

[A]

Or how she died, how she died

[B]

to tell a lie or match. Okay, wow.

[A]

Or it could be like the. I guess the TV shows where nothing has been released and someone's like, yeah, he stabbed. I didn't know he stabbed her. And they're like, who said she was stabbed? You know, something like that.

[B]

So does Davis team seem like under prepared or just

[A]

from what I saw. I know. I think. I'm sure. I'm sure Blair Burke is on her shit. And it seems like with every hearing, she's more on her shit. Okay, but if he's paying that much, I mean, at that point, like, get Brian Steele in there as well. Like, it's just she doesn't seem to be as quick with all these little things.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Because usually when you are paying that much money, the defense, I mean, you're expecting them to be sharper than the prosecutors. No offense. Right. Because, like, these are the top, top level.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. They're making the big bucks.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's why they get millions. Millions on millions.

[A]

Yeah. Like you're expecting they're gonna run circles around the prosecution.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But wow.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Not saying prosecutors are not as intelligent. They're just overworked. They got a lot of cases going on. They're underpaid, they're overworked. So the prosecutors are like, you guys want a preliminary hearing and you want all the discovery. I'm telling you right now, you're not going to get that because there's so much evidence, it's going to take longer than even 15 days to get you the evidence that you want. Throughout the investigation, We've accrued approximately 50 terabytes of data over the last approximately month, maybe five weeks. Robbery Homicide Division has been trying to upload their entire investigative file through a system that the county purchased for the DA's office, where we're all supposed to be able to share information with defense counsel directly. After approximately four and a half weeks, five weeks. Only 30% of the LAPD's case file has been uploaded, and that is using multiple computers. There is a voluminous amount of digital data in this case. She also gives us an idea of what kind of evidence there will be. There are police reports and documents from the lapd, from the sheriff's department, from the chp. There's body worn video. There are numerous forensic reports, including DNA, trace evidence, field investigative unit services, chemical processing. There are property reports, there are vehicle reports, there are arrests and booking reports. All of those things we are going to endeavor to turn over hopefully tomorrow afternoon.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Overall, Beth Silverman seems super confident. David's team seems a little less confident. There are a lot of interesting moments where David's team seem, okay, maybe like, it just takes a second for them to get into the groove of things. But there's this moment where the defense requests the judge to unseal the search warrants. We'd ask that we'd orally move to unseal them so that the court can issue an order. So they're like, we're just asking through mouth. The court is like, yeah, I'm not sure I can issue just a general order to unseal search warrants without specific case numbers. I don't have a problem with issuing an order, but I think I would need to have the specific. And by case number, it wouldn't be this case number. Beth Silverman talks to a detective and she's like, okay, I'll get you all the warrant numbers. And later, Blair Burke is like, by the way, I brought you this five terabyte drive for you. Since you told me last time in open court that the one terabyte drive I gave you wasn't enough.

[B]

Wait, wait, wait.

[A]

Okay, so previously, previously, Blair Burke gave Beth Silverman a one terabyte drive. Okay. Which, like, is notoriously not a lot. Like, this is one terabyte. There have been FOIA requests that we've done where they're like, send us a one terabyte drive, and it's like police reports. Right. So I'm assuming in this case it's massive and they're sending a one terabyte drive. Okay.

[B]

She knows there's 50, 50 terabytes, so

[A]

then she sends a one terabyte drive. And Beth Silverman in open court is like, what did you think you were gonna do with that? Like, what do you, what do you want us to do with that? That's nothing. We need a lot more than that. Like, you're. You keep asking us for discovery and you give us a one terabyte drive. So then she's like, by the way, I brought this five terabyte drive. She's like waving it around. I think now they want specifically before this prelim. It seems that the defense clearly want the icloud data. Beth Silver. This is icloud from David's icloud account. They want that.

[B]

What? That's what they want.

[A]

And by the way, the CCM is not going to be on there. We're going to get into that in a second. But they want the icloud data. Whatever's on that icloud.

[B]

I don't know what is on cloud. Photos, probably. Photos, voice memo, maybe Notes apps.

[A]

These days people have been doing lots of notes apps. He seems like the type to do that. Yeah. So they're like, we want the icloud data. Beth Silverman was like, that icloud data in totality, just the icloud data is probably like 8, 8 terabytes, which this has been again misspoken in the news and on Reddit of like, oh, it's eight terabytes of CSAM. It's just eight terabytes of iCloud data. And none of the CCM is going to be on there. Obviously. They can't just like hand over CCM like that. So Beth Silverman is like, okay, we'll get your fuck ass 5 terabyte hard drive out of here. She doesn't say it like that, but more or less. She is like, absolutely. I will say absolutely. Under no circumstances did she say that. I'm just making things up. It just sounds like that. Okay. She's like, I'm sorry, just. So council's aware and I'm sure the court knows this, we cannot place an item that is larger than the capacity of the drive you provided us on two different, different drives. She's like, like, legally speaking, we don't do this. I can't split up evidence. So if the ICLOUD data is 8 TB, I can't put 4 on this one and 4 on the other one. You gotta at least give me a 10 terabyte drive and I can put all the 8 terabytes in that 10 terabyte drive. So basically get your fuck ass 5 terabyte drive out of here. Is that not. And Beth Silverman is like, it cannot be split. These are direct transcripts. Not the fuck ass five terabyte drive. But like the rest of it. Blairbrook says, so Beth Silverman says, it cannot be split. I heard that for the first time today. We will do that and deliver it tomorrow. She's like, I'll get you your 10 terabyte drive tomorrow. And she says, great. And also going forward, I've been informed that when you give up a hard drive, it needs to be sealed. In other words, you know, you give us an open box. We need a sealed hard drive like in the original packaging. Okay. So.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Wow.

[A]

Yeah, I did think, yeah, I don't know, maybe I'll see her in her full glory soon, I guess. But I. There are. It's interesting. It's just interesting. Oh, and speaking of the ccm. So the CCM evidence, the way that they do it is, at least in this county, is they're going to put it on a law enforcement computer. That CCM will be placed in the courthouse in a very specific room that only the defense and the prosecutors can access. And the defense will have to go there and view the CCM or an expert will have to go and view the CCM on that specific computer. They can't bring it back. They can't have it on their devices because even just having it on a device is illegal. Even if it's for work. Right. So, yeah. Which, I mean, Blair Burke knows that and she's like, yeah, absolutely. So it's not a problem. I'm just saying it was a part of the conversation. Yeah. Because I guess there were some concerns of like, maybe David would like to see certain things right now. Netizens think that this, the defense probably will not be insanity. It doesn't seem like there can be even a viable insanity plea, which, I mean, hardly ever works to begin with, with. But there's just so many times you can see he's in the right state of mind. Protecting his tour, protecting his music, performing. A lot of people think that the defense will be that Celeste OD'd and that he is just responsible for freaking out and getting rid of her body or trying to get rid of her body. In the autopsy report, it looked like she tested positive for drugs being in her system, those were presumptive positives. So this is the initial basic toxicology, which is just like a basic thing that they do for all the autopsies. But how a lot of things could come back positive because of other compounds that are found in the body through the decomposition process, such as meth, mdma. But when they did further testing, those came back not detected. Other things that were found in her system were low amounts of ethanol, basically alcohol in her system, which we all know is naturally formed during the decomposition process. So really, really there doesn't seem to be drugs in her system that the defense could point to and say, see, she OD'd. I think the only thing the defense really has is everything the autopsy doesn't say. So the autopsy says the manner of death is homicide and by two penetrating wounds. But it doesn't say who's holding the knife. Right. So it doesn't say it is a knife. It doesn't say it's David holding the knife. So I think that's going to be the main focus. I don't necessarily think they could even point the finger at anybody else. But I really don't know what the defense is going to be. These are just speculations. I just can't imagine what the defense is. As for, did David's family know? That's been a huge topic of conversation because the court document states this is the pre preliminary hearing brief that Blair Burke wanted sealed. Throughout 2024, the victim spent a significant amount of time with the defendant, including summer weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills and traveling with him to Las Vegas, Vegas, London and Texas to meet his family. People cannot grasp the concept that David's parents believed that she was of age. She clearly doesn't look of age in any photos and videos that I've ever seen of Celeste. She clearly looks like a minor. Online sentiment agrees with that. The family have reportedly been very, very close with David, it seems like. I mean, there's footage of his sister going up on stage. There's alleged videos and photos from the concert at the Fonda Theater where Celeste is sitting with his parents in the VIP section. 1 comment writes, apparently David was telling people she was 19 and a college student at USC. And maybe that flies with his friends. Like maybe that is okay if he's brought to a huge house party where the lights are dim and everybody's drunk and you're just like, oh yeah, this is my girlfriend. She's 19. I don't know if people would question in that context, especially if it's like a very passing greeting of like, hi, I think if you hung out with Celeste multiple times, you would know she's a minor like that. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that someone could argue that they don't know. But I don't know if you see her in passing. Maybe now if you're bringing someone home to your parents and you say she's 19 and she's a student at USC, his dad is an attorney, his mom is a teacher, I can't imagine that they would believe that. I just don't see that happening. Happening.

[B]

You know, what's high school, middle school teacher? Is it?

[A]

I don't know. But I mean, she has children around that age. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, that's crazy.

[A]

It doesn't make any sense to me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

She looks so young in all of her pictures. I know people are probably going to try to do the whole adultification thing of young girls, whether, like she's mature for she looks, she looks 11. I just, I don't know. I don't know how they could even possibly believe that. Many of us have tried learning another language before, but when it's time to actually use those skills, we realize knowing a few words is not the same as real conversation. Rosetta Stone Sapphire is a major new release in language learning. Combining Rosetta Stone's trusted immersion method with the latest innovations in education technology to help you go from knowing phrases to. To speaking confidently about the topics you care about. Mandarin has been a lifelong goal of mine and a part of that is just learning how to play mahjong. You have to call out each tile when you put it down. And I'm trying to play with my mother in law. It's really difficult. So Rosetta Stone is where I fall back on. Especially with their new Sapphire studio, I can specify exactly what I want to learn. Whether it's mahjong characters or traveling and need to knows, Rosetta Stone Sapphire will create a resource that suits your needs. If you want to take your language skills to the next level, don't wait to try. Rosetta Stone Sapphire. Rotten Mango listeners can get 20% off their Rosetta Stone Sapphire subscription when they sign up. Today you'll get unlimited access to all 25 Rosetta Stone languages plus all the new Sapphire learning tools. Visit Rosetta Stone.com rotten to redeem your 20% off. That's RosettaStone.com rotten and start learning a language for real. Are you tired of spending hundreds on crazy high wireless bills, bogus fees, and quote unquote Free perks that cost you more in the long run than a plan from mint mobile for 15 bucks a month might be right for you. Bring your own phone and number, activate with ESIM in minutes and start saving immediately. The best part? No going into a store and hanging around for half a day while a salesperson sets up my phone. It was all online. It took me 10 minutes. I used my own phone, kept my number and my bill dropped to $15. The coverage is the same, the speed is the same and I haven't had a single surprise charged since I switched. No contract, no hidden fees, no premium perks that somehow end up costing me more. Just a normal bill for normal amount every single month. If you like your money, Mint Mobile is for you. Shop plans@mint mobile.com rotten that's mintmobile.com rotten upfront payment of $45 for three month five gigabyte plan required equivalent to 15 per month new customer offer for first three months only then full price plans, options available, taxes and fees extra C Mint Mobile for details. You guys know we love Shopify. My family and I were able to make a lifelong dream come true after launching Grandpa Mango's Art Studio. Sharing my husband's grandfather's art with all of you and that is something that we could not have done without Shop. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all E commerce in the United States. From household names to brands that are just getting started and that iconic purple shop pay button that's used by millions of businesses around the world. It is why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. It also helps boost conversions meaning less cards go abandoned and more sales for you. My favorite part about Shopify is it's so user friendly from a consumer customer standpoint to a small business owner. We were able to set up Grandpa Mango's Arts Studio website in one sitting with their templates and I'm reminded of how top tier Shopify is whenever I forget my card information and I see that purple shop pay button and I can check out seamlessly. It's time to turn those what ifs into sales with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com rotten go to shopify.com rotten that's shopify.com rot. They did know however that David was at least being investigated before his arrest because they were subpoenaed to the grand jury hearings earlier in 2026 and that's part of why the information got Leaked that there was a grand jury investigation into David. Because all of this is sealed. So it gets leaked in two big ways. So the first of them is that David's parents and his brother Caleb, the three of them. Caleb is now 18. They fight the subpoena. They're in Texas, and they file a petition of habeas corpus contending that the trial. That the court's order summoning to testify in California violates due process. So this. This is public. So, like, they have to reference the grand jury investigation and they have to reference that David is the target of the investigation.

[B]

That's how people found out.

[A]

Yeah. So that's how they're like, oh, we can confirm for sure there's grand jury investigations into David because otherwise it's sealed. And then Neo gets arrested and it's kind of like, okay, now we can, like, definitely confirm again once more that this is happening.

[B]

But they did end up going, no, the families.

[A]

No. Yeah, They've still been fighting it out in court. Okay. Yeah. So the DA's office fought telling the judge in Texas, I would say if a car with a dismembered, decomposing body is registered to your home address because David's car was registered to Texas, you should expect to be questioned by the other authorities about that. And that's what this is, Judge. I'm asking you to find that the family witnesses are necessary and material. And I'm asking you to find that it will not cause them undue hardship. As for the Burke parents, their attorney argues on their behalf. If the D A needs parents to testify, then they have no case. In my opinion, they're just doing that for harassment purposes. If a proper subpoena was issued, they would have already spoken. They. The attorney has stated that the Burke family has been husband somewhat aware that an arrest was a possibility. Which is kind of crazy. Yeah. Which. A side note, David also transferred two of his Houston houses to his a trust under his mom's name. I believe his mom is the beneficiary of the trust. That was back in September of last year. So he moved quick with that. Really quick.

[B]

September. The body was found in September.

[A]

Yeah. And within like, 10 days, he moved the house to his mother, mom, both houses and, you know, must be in

[B]

the work already then.

[A]

Yes. Maybe. If I'm not mistaken, that's a very lengthy process to move a house, title, deed, whatever, to a trust to, like, move ownership. I'm sure you have to get. I don't know if he has a mortgage. Like, lots of people are involved yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

He for sure started that before or

[A]

got it done very quickly.

[B]

Or very quickly.

[A]

Right. But it seems like that was a huge priority then at that time is all I can say.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

But through the attorney, the family has made a statement stating the parents are sad and disappointed that David was arrested. However, they fully stand behind him and believe he is innocent. They fully support him. Caleb, this is David's 18 year old brother. He was seen in that video with Celeste and his little sister at the Fonda Theater. He has unfollowed David on Instagram. Since David's arrest, he takes to his story to write. All pedophiles and rapists should die. Period. So that was kind of the very first statement that he ever made during the grand jury investigations. Because he also filed a habeas corpus to not testify in front of the grand jury. People thought that he was probably on the same sentiment that David's parents were on, which is they're going to stand by David. But then he posted that and so people were wondering, okay, well, clearly this is in the context of everything happening. It's seems like he could really only be talking about David. Right, is what people were thinking then. He was also seen liking comments like justice for Celeste. Now after David's arrest, though, around the time of David's arrest, Caleb starts releasing more music. I will say that he didn't just kickstart his career after David's arrest. This is not like a new thing, which I do think would be very problematic. He has been releasing music for a long time for like the past three or four years. He actually went under a different stage name. So he went from being Caleb with a V. So C V, L E B, that was his stage name, similar to like David, but then he changed it to Karakova to further distance himself from his brother. So he released two songs. One was titled Sex, which kind of sent the Internet off on a witch hunt of people accusing Caleb at best being insensitive, at worst being involved. There were a lot of accusations being thrown about Caleb. Burke has since come out to state. Quote, I've been wanting to say something for a while, but I have to be careful about what I say. This is an ongoing legal matter. I don't want to make this horrible situation about me. I want justice for Celeste and her family. I've seen people say that I knew what was going on and was protecting my brother. This is not true at all. I have not lived with my brother for years and was not very close with him. We didn't speak Often other than when our family was brought on tour or he was visiting home. I was around Celeste a few times when I was 15. I did not know her well and I did not know her age. I think I will say maybe more believable when someone is 15 to not be able to identify. I think I give a lot more grace in this situation versus his parents. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm like, you're 15, you probably don't know either, right? He continues, people have been posting a video showing me backstage with her at one of David's concerts when I was 15 and I've been waiting to address it for a while. So when this video was circulating, some people were even thinking, what if Caleb and Celeste were dating? And like there were so many weird Internet theories which turned out to be entirely false. But he writes, people have gone as far to say that I was sneaking her backstage, which is not true. She was already at the show and the video takes place after the show had already ended. In the video, we were sent to grab something from a fan that was in the front of the stage and we were walking back. News companies such as tmz, Daily Mail and others have started saying that I'm taking advantage of the whole situation to promote my music and that I am just now launching my music career. That is not true at all. I've been releasing and posting music over the last three to four years and I took over a half year hiatus due to what happened. I changed my online name from Caleb to Kova as I did not want to associate myself with any of this. I have not once mentioned the situation or my identity on the new accounts. So on Karakova, he never mentions that he's David's brother. TMZ even reported my age incorrectly saying that I'm 20 when I just turned 18 in November. I had scheduled my first release under the new name before any of this became a headline again and the song came out two days before the arrest. This project, the music, videos and songs were already in motion long before any news coverage around my brother resurface. My intent has never been to use this to bring attention to myself or my music. This is the whole reason why I started over from scratch. My decision to continue releasing music is not about using any of this for attention. Music is my life and after stepping away for months because of everything that's happened, I want to build my own path. Netizen reactions have been mixed. There are two groups of people, they're very divided. One group who believe that Caleb David's brother is being incredibly insensitive and tone deaf with one person writing. Even if Caleb had no malice in releasing music, at best, it's still incredibly disrespectful and demonstrates a complete lack of empathy towards Celeste and her loved ones. I keep seeing comments following his statement along the lines of he shouldn't have to pause his life or there's never going to be a perfect time to do it and find the lack of empathy towards Celeste and her loved ones absolutely abhorrent. No matter how you spin it. Even if he had nothing to do with this case, he is someone who is way too close to this case for this to be anything but in bad taste. Anyone who says quote there will never be a perfect time is being will willfully ignorant. Are you telling me there is truly no better time than right fucking now? One comment responds justice for Celeste. I disagree though. If my brother killed somebody, what does that have to do with me? I didn't do it. Y' all need to remember that David Anthony Burke is the murderer. Not David's family, not Celeste's family, not David's friends, not Victoria Mendez, which is the fake name he ordered supplies in. It was David. Be mad at him. Another perspective reads first, nobody in this case deserves more sympathy and empathy than Celeste and the Rivas Hernandez family. But people should really give Caleb a break. He is not the same person as David. Just because his older brother made a terrible decision does not mean that Caleb should have to suffer. He's already disowned him on Instagram, stating that he thinks all rapists and pedos should die. He basically voiced that he wants death for his own brother. Consider how Caleb is feeling, what he's going through right now, and what he's human too. Imagine how difficult it would be to find out that your older brother, who you idolized and drew inspiration from is not at all who you thought he was. Then, while trying to process that you're constantly being criticized and hated on just for being related to him. Can we please try to have some more empathy here? He's 18. The dude is barely even an adult. One person comments Agreed. He denounced his brother's actions and it's obviously not his fault. It's gotta suck to have that shame and stain on the family. And of course you'd give your family member the benefit of the doubt until you saw evidence to the contrary. We didn't even find out anything till just a few weeks ago. I doubt he knew any more than we did. Predators are professionals at lying and hiding their behavior. Their families want to believe the best of them, so it's even harder for them to accept. If he was defending him in spite of the evidence, it'd be a different thing. But he isn't. His life and character shouldn't be ruined due to his brother's shitty choices. My heart goes out to him because having a family member turn out to be a pedo and a murderer is a different kind of loss, one that you can't even really grieve without being looked at funny by the general public. It's got to be overwhelming af, and I hope he has support beyond the parents who might be in denial for all we know. At least he came out and spoke on where he stands with it, which took a lot of spine in my opinion. Another comment disagrees though, writing, but just saying if he wanted to, he could release all this shit later. It wouldn't have been the end of the world. One person writes, I think the problem with the whole discussion of Caleb is that people are blurring the lines of this is tone deaf and poorly timed and this proves malicious intent. That's why some of this starts feeling like a bias driven witch hunt. The standard becomes impossible to satisfy. If he releases music now, he's capitalizing on the tragedy. If he waits to two years, people would probably say he only waited for the backlash to cool down. If he speaks publicly, he's manipulating sympathy. If he stays silent, he doesn't care. Once literally every action is interpreted in the worst possible light, it stops being about fairness and starts being about emotional projection. And to be clear, I completely understand why people are disturbed by the timing and the lyrics given the context of this case. The optics are awful, but this feels gross and unsensitive. Is still very different from this guy is intentionally exploiting a murdered child for his career, his musical career. One is a reaction to optics and emotion. The other is a serious assumption about someone's motives with no direct evidence behind it. I will say I think the part that stuck out to me is that out of everyone on David's I don't want to say side, but people that were closer to David than Celeste, that have publicly spoken out, his brother seems to be the most transparent and straightforward with condemning David. Yeah, his own brother. And I think that you can tell from the videos. And again, this is not me saying, oh, David's brother deserves all of our sympathy. You can tell from a lot of the videos he definitely looked up to his brother.

[B]

Is he what, Is he well established at all? Does he have no oh so he's okay barely having okay barely.

[A]

I mean, he doesn't outright condemn his brother, but he basically does, you know? And so it seems like this is the most transparent response that someone from close to David has put out. Like, far better than even Neo in Asia, who are older than Caleb and also were not related to David. As for Celeste's family, they told Rolling Stone that they are in unfathomable pain. There were rumors circulating that Celeste's parents were accepting money from David to hide the relationship, that there were numbers thrown about anywhere between $9,000 a month to $15,000 a month that they were receiving this payout, that they were being financially supported by David. They have flat out rejected that rumor, stating, I mean, Celeste's dad says, I have never had any contact with this guy, and we haven't received any money from him or anyone in this family. The Hernandez family attorney states, I had the heartbreaking responsibility of informing the Rivas Hernandez family of the horrifying allegations in court that David Anthony Burke stabbed Celeste, stood by while she bled to death, used a chainsaw to cut off her limbs, and bought a burn cage with the plan to incinerate evidence. Delivering the news was the most difficult thing I've had to do in 37 years as a lawyer, he states for the family. The Rivas Hernandez family is absolutely devastated by the findings contained in the medical examiner's report involving the horrible and gruesome death of their beloved daughter. Those findings have caused profound emotional pain for the family. They respectfully ask for your privacy, understanding, and patience as they process this information. There are no words to express the indescribable pain the family is experiencing right now. They still have bills to pay and jobs to go to every day. All they want is time to grieve and heal. In another statement that's been released by the family, they say, we would like to thank the LAPD and DA's office for their hard work. We'd also like to thank the people of Lake Elsinore for all their support. Celeste was a beautiful, strong girl who loved to sing and dance. Every Friday night was movie night, and we spent wonderful times together. We love her very much, and she always told us that she loved us. We miss her deeply, and all we want is justice for Celeste. Some people don't like Celeste's family. Some people don't like the statements that they put out. Some people didn't like that specific statement writing, why do you feel the need to mention that she always told you she loved you? Is this so no one thinks she hated you guys. Some people are saying it's almost like an admittance of guilt. She told us she loved us, so we were attentive and loving parents. I do want to note that Celeste was reported missing the second time the police did open an investigation into the family. Deputies interviewed everyone at Celeste's family home, and they found no evidence of child neglect. So they concluded their investigation writing since they were unable to locate Celeste, they were unable to determine if a crime had happened.

[B]

Wait, this is the. Yeah, during the time. Okay.

[A]

And I. I mean, I think there could be a lot of factors. There's no evidence. There's tick tock repost. There's random statements from people who claim they were friends with Celeste. There's TikTok reposts that allegedly Celeste made in an account. And even that's really hard to verify where she might have liked things that insinuated that she had a rough home life. But I think having a rough home life is leagues away from having neglectful parents that played some sort of role in not protecting you enough. I think in a perfect world, every parent should protect their child in a way that they can't go missing, that they cannot be groomed. But that's a very perfect world and be a lot of factors of why they didn't even feel comfortable going to the police. I think people have. Some people have drawn the speculation that Celeste's family didn't really bother to continue bothering the police about Celeste going missing because they didn't care. I don't think that's the case. I mean, you're also talking about a time that's heavy with probably ICE presence. Immigration status could also play a role. Socioeconomic status definitely plays a role. I mean, she was missing for so many months and no one was. The police weren't really looking for her. So even if they had gone to the police every day, which we don't know if they did or did not, we don't know why the police weren't looking for her. Maybe they have already had dealt with the police and they know the police is not going to look for Celeste because, I mean, they didn't. They didn't look for a girl who's missing from a. A socioeconomically not a stable background. I'm sure if this was a missing girl from the Hollywood Hills, they would have looked for her. I think there's a lot of nuance that maybe we need to factor into this case. And I think out of everyone, that the netizens should attack Celeste's family is probably last on that list. London, however, has been a huge issue. The preliminary brief has stated that Celeste traveled to London with David. And traveling to London has been heavily, just a point of contention because. Because you cannot travel to a foreign country without your parents, without some sort of form being signed. Usually every country has different rules. She did have a passport card that was abandoned in Santa Barbara and found, remember, near the isolated highway stretch. So did her parents know that she was going to London? Was something forged? Was it not? Like, I guess that's been a huge point of contention because London is brought up. We don't know if David had gone to London multiple times, but recently he was talking about working on the Withered album, writing the album, and he says that he went to London to write the album. So just another London connection. But he says, quote, I went to London with three of my friends and we made a song every day for two weeks. I love London because of the gloomy aesthetic and the gloomy vibe and environment that London has. There's barely any sun there. And I love that because the music I make is really sad. So in the two weeks, I made a song every day, and I came out with half the album, and then I went back to Houston for another. Another two weeks, and I made the rest of the project on my phone, just off a piece, you know, that people sent me with some things that I made. So if that's the case, maybe this is the London trip in question. And if that is also correct, it seems like Celeste may have helped write a lot of the music, and that is bringing more lyrics up into discussion. There is a whole interlude, remember, of Celeste voice, what seems to be Celeste's voice in this new album, the string theory interlude.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

So the dots seem to all be connecting here. I do think that with Celeste family, we can't really be so rigid with our thinking. I think this is out of all the places to have some level of understanding. D.A. hockman says, I had the chance to meet with some of the family members of Celeste, and their grief is uncalculable. And as to what happened to their daughter, what they have demanded, what we have assured them, is that the DA's office, working with LAPD, will give them the proof beyond a reasonable doubt on who killed their daughter, on how their daughter was killed, and bring that killer to justice. That killer that we have now charged is David Anthony Burke. But one person still writes, I have no sympathy for them. They had one job, which was to keep their Kids safe. Another writes, they chose to be a parent, then refused to even do the bare minimum. It amazes me that there are people having sympathy for these parents. It's disrespectful to that little girl that no one was protecting her. The devil doesn't always need an advocate. So stop with the old they tried bs. David is just one person. There will always be sick fucks like him around. It's up to the parents to watch and protect their child. Child. That is why they need to be charged and made an example of. So maybe the next time a parent will think twice. A lot of people think that's a bit harsh with someone responding. I said it before and I'll say it again. Whatever Celeste parents and family did or didn't do, they're facing the consequences of it now by having lost their daughter and having to face the murder. To me, that's punishment enough. You guys have a right to your own opinions. But as for me personally, I don't feel good about rubbing it in. As for David's family, they're facing the consequences of their own too. Others write they see their daughter hanging out at nice houses and getting taken care of. He had to have been buying her clothes, nails or whatever most predators do. And they thought, wow, she's having fun and she's safe. It's easy to place blame. And yes, they should have done more, but also David shouldn't have murdered her and she would still be alive. I just think there's a lot more places to be angry about right now. Prosecutors have yet to decide if they want to pursue the death penalty. The defense has, like I said, requested the preliminary hearing be pushed back to June, late June. And as of right now, he is in the LAPD 77th street jail. He's in the same facility as Nick Reiner who is accused of killing his parents. David is also being segregated away from the other inmates due to his fame and notoriety. He gets a shower every other day. He gets a phone call the same day that he showers, so every other day. So it's a really big day for him. Shower days, a couple hours of recreation time a week by himself. I believe it's about three hours a week. He's not on, on self exit watch, but he's alone. They think that something could potentially happen to him due to his status. There also could be more charges headed David's way just because, I mean the csam that that could be a state charge, that could be a federal charge. Typically it's the feds and Specifically for csam. I mean, Beth Silverman really emphasized it too, in the court hearing. She uses the words, he also had an iPhone. And that iPhone, as it's been reviewed, contained a significant amount of childhood pornography. And under the law, child pornography cannot be retained without there being certain orders in place. I've consulted with our high tech division, which also handles cases involving child pornography. The protocol, unless the court chooses to structure something different. And she goes on to state that they're going to put it on a law enforcement device in the courthouse, but she's like, really honing in on the csam. So that's why people think, yes, it's to emphasize how deplorable the evidence is that they found found. But also, maybe there are extra charges coming his way. But if those charges will follow, I guess, is another question. And I guess the big question is, what's going to happen at the preliminary hearing? I don't think it's going to be explosive in the sense of I don't think they're going to bring in star witnesses and all these other people. I mean, I might be proven wrong. I think a lot of it is going to be law enforcement. So in preliminary hearings, things are a little bit different. So you can actually bring in law enforcement and they can testify on what would normally be considered hearsay in a trial. So in a trial, you can't sit there on the stand and say, this person told me this.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

But in the preliminary hearing, because it's a preliminary hearing, a police officer can say, his friend Neo told me this. That's an example. You know, when I was talking, I interviewed this person and they told me this. So hearsay is allowed in preliminary hearings when it comes from law. Law enforcement officers.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

So you really. That's why a lot of preliminary hearings, you have in smaller cases, you'll have like one law enforcement officer who's like, okay, so I investigated this case. This is what I was told by this person that I went here, they told me this. And then pretty much that's like the whole witness.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. But it's gonna last a minute, right? Like multiple days.

[A]

I mean, judging by the way things are moving. So Beth Silverman says she can get it done in like four to five days.

[B]

Four to five days, yes.

[A]

But that's not factoring in the defense also examining, you know, but also, we don't know because she was also. There was lots of scheduling happening. She was like, I already told my witnesses, cancel your vacations. And Blair Burke keeps changing the timeline.

[B]

So we're going to hear some firsthand.

[A]

Yeah, we're, I think we're going to get a lot of information. I think that preliminary brief. Yeah, I think we're gonna get a lot more information and I think a lot of the questions in these few episodes are gonna get answered in the preliminary hearing.

[B]

Like just to hear that there's 40 terabytes of.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like evidence. I cannot imagine how much is how much they've gathered.

[A]

Oh, and another thing, just to clarify, some talk on Reddit and online, Deputy DA Beth Silverman stated that she plans to set a trial date within the next 60 days. I have seen some people confusing that with saying that we're gonna go to trial in the next 60 days.

[B]

I think that just setting a date.

[A]

Yeah, that date is probably gonna be years from now. That is if there is a trial. I mean I think the judges obviously the preliminary hearing is gonna go in favor of the prosecution. There's gonna be a trial. But that's if David doesn't plead guilty. Yeah.

[B]

Is that a possibility you think?

[A]

I don't think so. I don't think the DA is going to give him any sort of plea deal that he would like. Another thing, there's like politics involved. So D.A. hawkman was recently elected and there's, you know, this is his career as with all the DAs and he definitely needs to prove himself. He has some not great wins under his belt already. Some criticism under his belt. So I mean this is a huge case. I don't think they're gonna give him a good plea deal that he would take. Yeah. And I just don't see him pleading guilty. I mean I could be proven wrong but usually people like David don't plead guys guilty because I mean what would he get out of pleading guilty? He'd rather probably just take his chances. It's not like he cares about if he's going into debt paying for his attorney or his parents are going into debt paying for his attorney.

[B]

Wow. Okay.

[A]

But yeah, so I will keep you guys updated once the preliminary hearing starts and obviously with the future trial when and if that occurs. But what are your thoughts on this case? Let me know in the comments. So with that, be safe and I will see you in the next one. Based on the best selling book series by Elle Kennedy comes off campus A story of love.

[B]

Last week you didn't even know her name. Sometimes people sneak up on you.

[A]

Friendship. This is the most absolutely unhinged planet and I'm obsessed with it and self discovery on and off the ice. It's scary telling the world something I'm not ready for it to know. Oh, and it's pretty steamy.

[B]

This is the part where I tell you all the things I want to do to you off campus is now streaming on Prime Video.

[C]

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