David Anthony Burke — the musician known as d4vd — sat through a preliminary hearing where his own defense attorney tried to shift blame onto the fourteen-year-old girl found dismembered in his Tesla. Celeste Rivas Hernandez's case has moved into its most disturbing phase yet, and attorney Blair Berk isn't backing down from the strategy. During cross-examination, Berk pushed the LA County medical examiner on whether Celeste's wounds could have happened after she was already dead. She had a detective read aloud messages where Celeste referenced hurting herself — pulled straight from the case file to plant doubt in front of the judge before a single juror has even been seated. None of it happened in a vacuum. Prosecutors have already mapped a twenty-one-minute window between the moment Celeste's Uber pulled up and the moment her phone went dark for good. Burke's record deal with Interscope was reportedly worth up to nineteen million dollars at the time of his arrest. Three chainsaws sat inside his home, tested negative for blood, and LAPD never even collected them as evidence for the case file. Burke has been held to answer on first-degree murder with special circumstances, plus charges tied to illegal conduct with a minor and unlawful mutilation of her remains. He's eligible for the death penalty. He's pleaded not guilty to everything, and arraignment is set for August 31st. This is what a defense strategy looks like when the evidence is this ugly — reach for anything, including the girl who can't speak for herself anymore. Whether a jury buys it is the question this case is building toward, and the next hearing will show exactly how far Burke's team is willing to take it. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #CelesteRivas #D4vd #TrueCrime #DavidAnthonyBurke #HiddenKillers #JusticeForCeleste #MurderTrial #TrueCrimePodcast #CriminalJustice #DeathPenalty