No Homicide Charges in D4vd Tesla Death Investigation?

Has the Los Angeles Police Department. just confirmed that Celeste Rivas. Hernandez wasn't [music] killed? Their. latest statement has all of us guessing. at what potential criminal liability. anyone may face here after her body was. found in a car registered to singer. David. We are bringing back on Steve. Fiser, the private investigator who is. looking into aspects of this [music]. case on the ground in Los Angeles. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse [music] Weber. As you're watching this, have you ever.

wondered how we're able to share so many. clips from all these stories so quickly? I'll give you a secret if you're in the. content creation game. It's called Opus. Clip. This is an all-in-one AI editor. that makes it a breeze to cut, create, and upload videos across any platform. through AI. OpusClip. It generates. B-roll, refframes footage, and it even. cleans up audio. It is so easy to use. You just visit opus.pro/sidebar. You sign up, you upload, and in minutes. you will have perfectly edited clips. ready to go for Tik Tok, shorts, reals. Opus is your one-stop shop. And having a.

tool like Opus Clip means our producers. can get you viral courtroom updates. instantly. At Sidebar, we want listeners. to share their ideas, too. And this is. the most powerful tool there is to help. you edit like a pro. Go to. opus.pro/sidebar. to create your videos today. What do we. make of this new update in the David. case? As we continue to cover the. investigation into the death of. 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, whose body was found in a Tesla that was. registered to the singer out in LA back. in September, and there have been no. arrests. No one, including David, has.

been named a suspect or person of. interest. What is happening right now? Because the LAPD has confirmed with KTLA. that its prior news release quote stands. on its own. What does that mean? Well, if you go back to that prior news. release, essentially the message being. sent is there is currently no crime. other than concealment of a body that. may have occurred. There is no case. being sent over to the LA County. District Attorney's Office for potential. review or potential prosecution. And one.

of the reasons that announcement has. been made was because the Los Angeles. County Medical Examiner has not yet. determined a manner or cause of. Celeste's death. But should I say as of. now, right? Could this change? Does that. mean they have no evidence right now. that someone actually killed Celeste, caused her death, that there's no. homicide charges on the table right now? Was it accidental? Someone freaked out, tried to dispose or conceal her body. afterwards, or is this basically a.

statement? They're not going to find any. evidence that someone killed her. Right? I want to get into what this means and. what may be going on behind the scenes. with someone who is on the ground in LA. Someone who is investigating what may. have happened to Celeste. I'm talking. about Steve Fischer, a missing person's. private investigator who is hired by the. owner of the property that David was. staying at in LA. Now, remember, this. property was nearby where that Tesla was. found. And as you may recall, the owner.

wants some more information about what. role his house, his property may have. played in this, if any. And you may also. remember, if you've been following us. here on Sidebar, that we have. interviewed Steve before. And when it. came to what may have been found at that. house, the house that David moved out of. that was searched by authorities, here's. what Steve said to us in a previous. episode. But I will say this, there are. some things that um and I'm talking. physical evidence that was at that house. that is.

[clears throat] there could have been. greater plans as far as getting rid of. her. And it's scary sadistic stuff and. that's why we're trying to learn more. about that. I wish I could say more, but. for obvious reasons I can't. But but it. doesn't have to do with how she died, but maybe how they were planning on. ultimately getting rid of her and how. maybe that Tesla was just a holding spot. at the time and things just, you know, their timing was just off as far as. getting this done. But there's some. there's a few things that were just like. will blow your mind. >> And Steve joins us now. Steve, good to.

see you again. I'm really happy to have. you. I mean, you've been on the ground. there. You've you're investigating this. Let's start here. the big news. When the. LAPD confirms with KTLA that its prior. news release stands on its own, does. that signify to you, hey, listen, we. have no evidence that Celeste Rivas. Hernandez was killed, that homicide. charges are not warranted here, that. that's our final conclusion, or is that. saying we don't have evidence at this.

point? So I think what it's saying is that. they're still relying on what's going to. come back from the medical examiner's. office since there's not a determination. there at least publicly. Now are they in. contact with the medical examiner? Absolutely. But listen, I don't think. that's unintentional. They've been so. tight lipped. I think there has to be. something to read into that that again I. think the purpose of the initial release. was to, you know, get everybody possibly. prepared that this isn't a homicide. And. now they're saying we still don't have.

anything that shows that it is. But. there's other, you know, listen, a crime. definitely occurred and they even say. that that at least concealing the body, but there's other crimes I hope they're. investigating such as the relationship. I understand it's a tough case to make. because she's not around anymore. She. can't testify, but um it's doesn't mean. because it's hard it shouldn't be, you. know, pursued. >> I'm going to talk about what potential. charges could be here in a second. But. just going back to this, they have to be. in contact with the LA County Medical. Examiner. Does that mean that right now.

the LA LA County Medical Examiner is. like I I need more information. I I I. don't have a conclusion yet. Last time. you and I were speaking, you said it's. possible that the LA County Medical. Examiner may be releasing the cause and. manner of death of Celeste soon because. you were looking at the the website and. it was showing that they were reviewing. cases. There was a backlog and maybe. Celeste is going to come up. Does it. signify to you, yeah, we spoke to them. there's nothing to determine that she. was uh killed by anyone, which could. raise questions about how she died, or.

is this a situation where, you know, they they again, yeah, they spoke to. them. Yeah, it's possible Celeste was. killed, but we're just not revealing. that at this point in time. >> Yeah. So, the LA County Medical. Examiner's Office has their own in-house. investigators also, and in fact, they. publicly say on the site who the. investigator on the case is. So, I'm. sure they're working with robbery. homicide. And, you know, it may be a. case that, let's say they did get a good. toxicology result back, but it's not an.

overdose. Now, it throws [clears throat]. it back into, okay, so then you got. really limited options. is either a. homicide or, you know, if she took her. own life, then they'd really have to dig. in because if it wasn't glaringly. obvious from the initial autopsy, in. other words, if there's not a gunshot. wound or something like that, then, you. know, they're going to have to maybe get. forensic anthropologists involved that. specialize in trying to make these. determinations on a severely decomposed. bodies, which can take a while. And they. might be consulting with outside. pathologists to see if they got it, to. get comfortable with a possible.

determination. But something, you know, like you said, I've been tracking those. other cases and they've come back with. toxicology now. In fact, she's the only. one of 20, I think six deaths on. September 8th that doesn't have a cause. and manner. And um so it's a little bit. it's it's concerning, but which way it. goes is hard to tell because they could. have, you know, >> needed additional testing. [clears throat]. >> because you thought by this point we. might have had a release. Do you thought. by this point we might have more. information. >> if it was I think if they got a a good.

toxicology let's say it came back and it. was clearly an overdose of some sort. whether somebody administered that or. she took it herself and it was an. accident is a different thing that cause. would be you know manner would be. whether it was self- administered or. administered by someone else. I would. think that there would have been some. sort of indication by now and that could. be then initial charges could be. dropped. I don't know why initial. charges couldn't be dropped now even if. they have the stack on top of them. because I know that they'll probably say. well he's cooperating but how much if. it's been 2 months and you haven't. gotten the answer yet is really.

cooperating so you know it means he's. probably not he's probably the council's. telling him not to and what's the. difference if he's Miranda or not you. know now. >> and to be clear about something okay if. they come back and they say listen you. know there's no evidence to support that. Celeste was killed right there's no. evidence to support homicide charges you. know manslaughter murder or anything. like that. Is that consistent with what. you're seeing in your private. investigation? Are you hearing or seeing. something different? Would you be. surprised if that's the ultimate.

conclusion? >> You know, I'll just be honest. We really. don't know. Nobody has stepped forward. even, you know, wanting to be anonymous. off the record and said, you know, listen, I I I know what happened. So, it's very bizarre that there's this many. people involved that have stayed this. quiet for this long, especially like. when they're young and it's like they're. all warriored up to be honest with you. And I don't know if that's because maybe. he's providing counsel to all of them, but there's no leaks coming out and. that's kind of bizarre with this many.

people involved, younger people that. kind of want to save themselves and. they're blowing their careers up. So, it. seems like there's something that. they're trying to protect, but I I don't. know what it is yet. >> And I just have to be clear once again, right? There's a lot of online. speculation. And there's a lot that. we're looking into. We're looking at. every report that's come out. To be. clear, okay, David David Anthony Burke. has not been officially implicated in. any crime, any wrongdoing. He's not been. charged. He's not been named a suspect, not a person of interest. Obviously, his. connection is through the car and these.

reports that he had some sort of. relationship with Celeste, which I'll. I'll dive into a little bit more. But. Steve, I was looking into this, right? And unless I'm wrong, if someone just. moved Celeste's body, possibly under. California law, that may be just a. misdemeanor. There's a law that says. every person who having knowledge of an. accidental death actively conceals or. attempts to conceal that death shall be. guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by. imprisonment in a county jail for not.

more than one year or by a fine of not. less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000. or by both that fine and imprisonment. And for purposes of the section, to. actively conceal an accidental death. means any of the following. to perform. an overt act that conceals the body or. directly impedes the ability of. authorities or family members to. discover the body. To directly destroy. or suppress evidence of the actual. physical body of the deceased, including. but not limited to bodily fluids or. tissues, to destroy or suppress the.

actual physical instrumentality of. death, right? What caused the death? And. I also saw that there was this health. and safety code section under California. law that says a person who willfully. mutilates remains known to be human. without authority of law is guilty of a. felony. I'm just not sure if we've seen. convictions on that for something like. this given this fact pattern. But uh the. reason people are talking about this law. now and now is because if we are coming. to the conclusion that this really may. be it. Um am I wrong? Is that really.

what you know we might be looking at? Yeah. No, you're not wrong. And you. know, I've brought this up for a while. now that you can willfully conceal and. suppress evidence and destroy evidence. to hide it from investigators and family. and everybody else. And it's still a. misdemeanor. And let's just be real. about it. None of these people appear. to, you know, in initial orbit have a. record. So they're not going to get up. to a year in county jail. They're going. to get probation if they're charged. So.

it's tremendous. Now it shifts to a. felony when you mutilate a bike. Now, and of course, we've heard these reports. since the beginning of her being. dismembered. I do not believe that. I. believe it was disinterculation, which. is that's a natural process of the. connective tissues degrading and the. bones, you know, falling apart. I don't. have any evidence that she was. dismembered. So, I don't think that's. the case. >> Okay. >> But if it is, then that would go to a. felony. That would be a totally. different thing. But you can suppress. this. you could hide her in a trunk from. investigators and destroy evidence and.

it's a misdemeanor in uh California. >> And to be clear, maybe that's what the. additional testing is to try to see what. signs her body shows of being. manipulated in some way or mutilated in. some way. I hate to talk so cavalier. about this, but from a legal point of. view, this is the cold hard facts. This. is what investigations look like. Although, I will tell you, if we're. saying, "Okay, how did she die then?". And I know that there's been a. conversation. Well, let's say for. argument sake, and there's this is. purely speculation. If you're talking. about drugs being involved, is the LAPD.

saying that this is not a drugrelated. death or that someone wouldn't be. responsible for it? Because you would. think it is possible. We've seen it. before, someone could be charged with an. overdose. Someone could be charged with. drug offenses, even in severe cases, if. they provide drugs that result in an. overdose. You could look at, let's say, involuntary manslaughter. someone could. be brought up on charges uh of. distributing those drugs, providing. those drugs um particularly to a minor. If they're not saying that at that. point, right? I I mean they that could.

be because there's no evidence of that. Or maybe it's they're saying LAPD, we. don't even want to mention drugs. We. don't even want to mention drugs at this. point. What do you think's going on. there? >> Yeah, it could be. So, you know, listen, this is a high-profile case and let's. look at other high-profile cases that. similar to this. M Miller, Matthew. Perry, you know, both times people. charged with providing him the drugs. they overdosed on. So maybe there is a. drug element to this investigation going. on that we don't know about, you know,

because when they confirmed basically. they're standing on that statement a. couple days ago. I know that I saw. headlines saying, you know, they've. confirmed that it's not a murder, not. homicide. That's not what they said. They said they're just standing on their. previous statement. So it got a little. spun out of control, I think, and that's. going to happen when this goes on two. months, right? But maybe there's a drug. investigation, maybe they're trying to. figure out how those got to her and it's. going to be a M. Miller, Matthew Perry. type of situation where they are going. to go after, you know, whoever provided. them. >> And without naming names from your. investigation into that house, can you.

say at this point whether drugs were. ever found at that house or connected to. that house? >> So, I I can tell you that there was. prescription narcotic medication, um, opiate, you know, painkillers that were. found, but they were prescribed. And so, we don't know if they were ever used. recreationally or not. There was some. paraphernalia there. But listen, I mean, you know, marijuana is legal in. California. It's something that you. could use for that. You could also use. it for elicit drugs. We don't know what. they're being used for. I've seen some. pictures of Celeste where she doesn't. look sober. I'll just be honest with. you. She looks like she's definitely not. sober. And I've talked to people in Lake.

Elsenor that said when she came back. after that time that law enforcement. brought her back that she was quote. unquote strung out. And so I don't know, and I hate to say that about a minor. because I don't have proof of it. I'm. just telling you what I've been told. But if that's indeed the case, then. hopefully there's a a drug element. going, investigation going on that we. don't know about. They're just being. very tight lipped. But it it listen, it's been a while now, you know. >> No, look, a lot of people care about. Celeste. They're worried. They're. thinking about what happened here.

They're invested in this case. Family, friends, just people who are constantly. following it from the beginning. And I. wanted to ask you what you learned more. about Celeste so far in your. investigation because we covered this. extensively that there was and you. mentioned this, there were there was. reporting about her running away from. home, footage of her walking away on a. street in Lake Elsenor, footage of her. potentially fighting with people in her. neighborhood, reporting particularly. from TMZ that Celeste may have been in. some sort of relationship with David, those around them saying that they. thought she was 19. What else have you.

learned about Celeste Rivas Hernandez. that we should know? Well, I mean, listen, there was I'm 100%. convinced personally that there was a. relationship going on. I think, you. know, um you don't have to have a tape. of a sex act going on in order to prove. that. But it also showed that listen, she had a lot of freedom at a very young. age. You know, now there's photos of her. at a concert in Vegas when she was 13. years old at a concert that he was. playing at. Of course, the other stuff. we've already talked about, which is her.

at that high school graduation and her. showing up arguing with the neighbors. These are all during the time that she's. reported as missing person. Law. enforcement should have been notified at. that graduation. I don't believe that. she was the only person in our family. there. I think that there was several. adult family members there and there was. school police officers at that. graduation. I don't know why somebody. didn't say, "Hey, by the way, this is a. missing person." And you know, they. would go the uh route they normally go. and make sure that she's okay. and and. um find out what's going on. But none of.

that happened. It seemed like she just. showed up like at a family event and. then went back to wherever it was she. was staying. And it's concerning because. she wasn't in school and there wasn't. these controls and that are there for a. reason. >> Have you tried reaching out to Celeste's. family and friends? Have they been. responsive at all? I mean, what can you. tell us? >> I reached out to two of them that I. don't speak Spanish myself. So, I didn't. reach out directly to the mom because I. heard that she only speaks Spanish. But, I did reach out to two others and I have. not heard back from them. But, and I'm. not going to press it with them because. I do have a limited scope in this. investigation. I'm not there. investigating side by side with LAPD.

I'm there for the homeowner and finding. out what happened in or around the house. and the cars that were at the house. So, uh I'm not going to press that. But no, I I tried and I've not been back. If. they're, you know, if they're watching. this, I'd love to talk to them. I'm not. uh I just want to you know learn you. know what what happened. And by the way, just going back to something, you had. mentioned um since the first time that. we spoke about this, that there was this. surveillance footage and correct me if. I'm wrong, you you can't identify, but. you seem to know who moved that Tesla,

right? Who operated that Tesla. When we. say there's no arrest here, when we are. talking about the fact, yeah, there's. been no arrest, no person of interest, no suspect. Again, at this point of. time, because it's been some time since. you and I first talked about that, are. you surprised no arrest there of that. person? Yeah, I am because I can. understand maybe a month or six weeks. ago. Uh because if they're saying, "Hey, listen, they're cooperating with us. right now." There's no reason to jam. them up and then have their lawyer say, "Listen, you went ahead and arrested, so. now we're not cooperating. We're not.

talking." But even if they're saying. that's still the case, two months, if. they haven't told you the whole story. now in two months, then is that. cooperating? I don't believe it is. So, I think there's initial charges you. could start with and they're just. misdemeanor charges. So, it's not like. the person would even the person, you. know, what's going on with Bond in. California right now. I mean, the person. would probably get on their own. recgnissance, you know. So, >> and and and I'm not saying that that. would change the investigation analysis, but sometimes we've seen before in cases. where somebody when they are charged,

they sometimes provide more information. to law enforcement. Sometimes it can. lead to a further search warrant where. you can get more information. So, when. someone is charged even with a lower. level offense, that could ultimately. lead to something else. Uh, but by the. way, by the way, um, have you spoken to. LAPD? Have they given you any indication. what's going on? >> Yeah, we've I've spoken to them a couple. times to give them information, but they. haven't offered anything back, which I. didn't expect anyways, but it's only.

been to give them information. Are they. concerned about your parallel. investigation or no? >> We haven't even had that conversation, but if I had to guess, I would say they. don't they don't like it for sure. There's never a situation where they. particularly like somebody that's I'm. very much information based. I don't. believe in this totally tight to the. vest type of investigation. I think that. pressure really brings people forward. and stuff. That's why I think something. like an arrest because if you're a. person that gets arrested for moving. that vehicle, for participating in in. concealment of a body, and you feel like.

now you're the only one that's been. arrested and you feel like you're taking. the hit for this when you only did one. part of it, you're probably going to. talk to me say, "Okay, this person also. did this, you know, and I think it's a. way to bring answers out. I don't think. that they love that I'm involved, but um. it's just I am and that's that's, you. know, uh the way it is right now." Um, before I let you go, Steve, one final. point. Have you spoken to anyone in. David's camp? Do you know where he is at. this point? [snorts].

>> No, I know that early on it seemed like. he was in California because when he. transferred that property in um Texas, it had the the notary seal was a. California uh notary. So, it appeared. that when he signed those documents, he. had come back to California at least for. a while. I have no idea if he's still. here or or where he is. And I've spoken. to some people that are like one step. removed from the initial players, but I. haven't talked to any of the main people. I would like to. >> And by the way, your client, the owner. of this property, how they feeling at. this point? >> I mean, they they want answers. I mean,

it I could see how it would be. disturbing to decide if you want to live. in that house right now or not while. this is going on. Did somebody lose. their life in there or not lose their. life in there? Especially a 14-year-old. at the time. So, you know, they want. answers and they want to know what's. going on and and especially since he. wasn't even the person who signed the. lease and this is all, you know, news to. him. >> It was the it was it was David's. manager, right, who was on the lease. Um, but have they tried to, you know, rent out the property again? Is or sell. the property? >> You know, I know that they were doing.

some repairs on it and I don't know if. it's on the rental. I haven't even. asked. He's never brought anything up. about financial part of it. It's just. been wanting to know more from like a. healthy like spiritual type of thing. like what may or may not have happened. there. >> Steve Fischer, always appreciate you. taking the time to talk to us about uh. what's going on here. Again, a lot of. questions, but thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your.

podcasts. You can follow me on X or. Instagram. I'm [music] Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.