RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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A Los Angeles judge has ruled that there’s enough evidence to sustain charges against D4vd for the alleged murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. But this by no means the end of the case — and the singer’s fate is still up in the air.
On Monday (July 27), Charlaine F. Olmedo decided in favor of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office following a five-day preliminary hearing against D4vd. Prosecutors allege the 21-year-old “Romantic Homicide” singer (David Anthony Burke) stabbed and dismembered 14-year-old Rivas to protect his lucrative music career after she threatened to reveal their illegal sexual relationship.
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This doesn’t mean the case has been proven against D4vd, who maintains his innocence. Rather, it clears the way for a proper trial to be held against the singer. This proceeding would be before a jury of laypeople rather than a judge. It would likely be lengthier than last week’s preliminary hearing, as the office of District Attorney Nathan Hochman would have to convince jurors of D4vd’s guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt” to convict him of first-degree murder, child sexual abuse and mutilating a body.
This is a higher burden of proof than the “probable cause” standard that swayed Judge Olmedo to move the case past a preliminary hearing. Hochman claims his team is prepared to meet that standard: “What was presented by our office over the course of the last week is a small but illustrative fraction of the evidence investigators have accumulated that proves defendant Burke is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the brutal murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez,” said the DA following Monday’s ruling.
A trial has not yet been scheduled. The next step will be for prosecutors to file a so-called criminal information document further detailing the charges. D4vd, who is currently in custody, is scheduled to appear for an arraignment on those charges on Aug. 31. A trial could be set for as soon as two months after that.
There’s also still a possibility that D4vd will opt to plead guilty instead of going to trial. Since the singer’s charges are eligible for the death penalty, prosecutors could theoretically offer to take death off the table and recommend only prison time in exchange for a plea. This is a common bargaining chip for prosecutors in death penalty-eligible cases; the strategy was used last year to secure a plea from alleged University of Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger (though Kohberger recently asked to take it back ).
As of now, prosecutors say they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty against D4vd. The singer, for his part, currently maintains a plea of not guilty and a team of lawyers who’ve vowed to “vigorously defend” him in court.
“Let us be clear,” said defense attorneys Blair Berk , Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter following D4vd’s April arrest , “the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death.”
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