Public defender takes over after Judge Olmedo denies delay request
Singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Anthony Burke, lost his high-profile private defense team at a Los Angeles hearing on Monday where he entered a new not guilty plea to charges that he murdered and sexually abused 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez.
The private attorneys — Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Peter — withdrew from the case after Judge Charlaine Olmedo of Los Angeles Superior Court found that Burke qualified for a court-appointed lawyer. They were replaced by deputy public defender Walid Kandeel, whose first request — to delay the arraignment — Olmedo rejected. She instead ordered a plea on Monday and scheduled a status conference for October. No trial date has been set.
The reasons for the attorneys’ departure were not disclosed. The outgoing defense team said in a statement that the judge granted their request to withdraw after finding that Burke qualified for a court-appointed lawyer. “We continue to support David and his defense against these serious charges,” the statement said. The attorneys declined to answer specific questions about their departure outside the courtroom.
The switch to a public defender leaves open the question of how Burke — who, according to testimony from his financial handlers at a previous hearing, earned at least $10 million through his music from 2023 through 2025 — qualifies financially for court-appointed representation. Without providing details, the Los Angeles County public defender’s office said in an email that it had completed “a thorough financial evaluation” and found Burke eligible.
Burke’s second arraignment and plea on Monday followed standard practice after a preliminary hearing. In July, Olmedo ruled after a five-day evidentiary hearing that there was enough evidence for Burke to stand trial on charges of murder, continuous lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said after Monday’s hearing that his office was still deciding whether to seek the death penalty, though Burke is eligible for it. Hochman said the change in defense counsel would make no difference in how his office pursues the case, though the switch “may delay the process.” He said regardless of timing, his office was “ready to prove all three charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Berk, the outgoing lead attorney, has for years been among the go-to lawyers for A-list clients, who have included Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Harvey Weinstein and Ozzy Osbourne.
In a statement Monday, Kandeel, the new attorney, said: “We recognize the loss of life underlying the allegations and extend our sympathies to those who are grieving. At the same time, David Burke is entitled to a defense that takes his circumstances seriously and carefully examines the evidence.”
According to authorities, Burke stabbed Celeste Rivas Hernandez to death in April 2025 after she threatened to expose sexual abuse that began when she was 13 and crater his rising career just days before his debut album dropped. The night before her death, she sent him a text saying, “i will end ur career and ur life.” Prosecutors said the following night Burke sent an Uber for her and stabbed her when she entered his house, and that her phone went permanently silent at that moment. Celeste’s dismembered and decomposing body was later found in the trunk of Burke’s Tesla in the Hollywood Hills in September 2025 while he was on tour.
At the July preliminary hearing, prosecutors described their evidence as “mountains of evidence” that was “overwhelming,” while Burke’s prior defense team argued that the evidence of murder was insufficient.
Monday’s hearing followed the July preliminary hearing that concluded with Judge Olmedo’s ruling that Burke must stand trial, and came weeks after the opening of that preliminary hearing earlier that month.