D4vd Defense Attorneys Question LAPD Forensic DNA Procedures

The preliminary hearing, presided over by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo, is tasked with determining if there is sufficient probable cause to send Burke to trial on charges of first-degree murder, child sexual abuse, and mutilation of human remains. Burke has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Defense Challenges Forensic Choices at Hollywood Hills Residence

Defense attorney Blair Berk focused her cross-examination on Thursday on the specific items collected—and ignored—by the Los Angeles Police Department during their investigation of Burke’s former Hollywood Hills home. Berk questioned LAPD criminalist Lauren Wallace regarding why two chainsaws found in the garage were not swabbed for touch DNA after initial chemical tests for blood yielded negative results.

Wallace testified that the decision not to collect further DNA samples from the saw handles was based on the fact that chemical tests did not indicate the presence of blood. She explained that because multiple people lived at the residence, the suspect’s own DNA would likely be present on many surfaces. According to Apnews, Wallace stated that testing for DNA throughout the home wouldn’t make sense given the volume of DNA already present.

Berk also raised questions about other items in the garage, including jugs of fake blood. Wallace confirmed she observed these items.

Prosecution Evidence: Digital Tracking and Physical Remains

Prosecutors are building a timeline they claim shows a methodical attempt to conceal the crime. A police detective testified that cellular tower data and internal systems within Burke’s Tesla confirm he was at his Hollywood home on the night of April 23, 2025, the date prosecutors allege the killing occurred. The data further indicated that Burke traveled to a remote area of Santa Barbara County later that night and made two additional trips to the region in May.

Evidence presented earlier in the week by California Highway Patrol officer Sean Buenrostro detailed the discovery of a passport belonging to Rivas Hernandez on a dirt embankment off State Route 154 in January 2026. Defense attorney Regina Peter questioned whether the passport’s location could have been the result of weather conditions.

In the garage of the Hollywood Hills home, Wallace identified rubber gym flooring with linear cuts and red stains. While she admitted on cross-examination that she could not definitively prove the stains were blood, describing them instead as possibly blood, a previous court filing from Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman stated that evidence recovered from Burke’s garage specifically matched the victim’s DNA.

Family Ordeal and Financial Stakes

The proceedings have been emotionally taxing for the family of Rivas Hernandez. Their attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, told the BBC that the parents were horrified by the graphic evidence, which included images of the victim’s remains found in the trunk of the Tesla. Steinfeld noted that the family insisted on remaining in the courtroom despite the graphic nature of the testimony.

“There was an image of Celeste’s torso and her head in the trunk of the car, and the prosecutor had to ask what it was because you could not tell it was a head. It was absolutely deplorable.”

Patrick Steinfeld, family attorney

The prosecution alleges that Rivas Hernandez had threatened to expose the sexual relationship, which they state began when she was 13 and Burke was 18, leading to the April 2025 confrontation.

Ongoing Legal Proceedings

The hearing is expected to conclude early next week.