Will D4vd’s Murder Case Even Go to Trial?
This is your in-depth preview of what we. can expect at David's multi-day. preliminary hearing. The opportunity to. finally see the prosecution's evidence. against the singer accused of murdering. a 14-year-old girl. We have new details. about the hearing and a [music]. potential major witness. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. >> All rise, >> I'm Jesse Weber. So, [music] tomorrow's the day, day one. of a multi-day preliminary hearing in.
the David murder case. This is where the. prosecution is going to present evidence. to convince the court, convince the. judge that they have sufficient proof to. support the charges for this case to. move forward to trial. This is a. probable cause standard. It is a lower. standard. Probable cause to support the. charges. And remember what this is also. about. This is about transparency, right? because this is a case that has. been shrouded in so much secrecy. This. is an opportunity to finally see what.
the prosecution claims it has. So, I. wanted to do a preview of what we can. expect. And I have some logistical. details for you that I will tell you one. person is pretty upset about. And I have. an idea about a potential key witness, one of David's reported friends, someone. we haven't spoken about a lot, but she. just posted a video and it got me. thinking. We'll get into that. Now. remember, David is the singer currently. charged with first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under. 14, unlawful mutilation of human.
remains, all in connection with the. death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas. Hernandez. Prosecutors alleged that he. was in a sexual relationship with her. that back on April 23rd, 2025, prosecutors alleged that David lured her. to his home in LA, stabbed her to death, allegedly watched her bleed out, which. is an important detail that I'm going to. get to, and then reportedly took. horrifying measures to conceal this. killing. All in an effort to keep her. quiet about their relationship to. prevent her from coming forward, that. this would have ruined his very.
successful, lucrative career. The. special circumstances allegations, which. carry heftier penalties, potentially the. death penalty, include murder of a. witness, murder for financial gain, lying in weight. Prosecutors alleged. that he used a deadly and dangerous. weapon, a sharp instrument to kill. Celeste. And prosecutors alleged that he. purchased a blue inflatable pool, chainsaws, a body bag, heavy duty. laundry bags, that he dismembered her. body, that he made suspicious trips to. the Santa Barbara County area, that he. lied to friends and associates about the.
alleged smell of decomposition at his. residence. These are all the. allegations, and it all culminates. September 8th, 2025. That is the day. after what would have been Celeste's. 15th birthday that her dismembered. decomposed body is found reportedly in. the front trunk of a Tesla allegedly. registered to David at an LA towyard. He. has entered a not-uilty plea and he is. innocent unless proven guilty. So that's. where we're at. Now I got to go into. this. So first things first, before I. even get into the substance of what we.
can expect at this preliminary hearing, we received an update. We received a. notice to all media. So, this. preliminary hearing is set to begin at. 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 21st, 2026 in. Department 105 on the 9th floor of the. Claris Shortridge Folks Criminal Justice. Center with Judge Charlene F. Omdo. presiding. And this preliminary hearing. is scheduled to last 3 days. And this. part's key. It says this notice, the. court will hold a public lottery for.
public seats for the preliminary. hearing. The court will conduct a public. lottery for 10 public seats and 10. standby seats from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. It's going to be on the first floor. lobby of this courthouse on each day of. the preliminary hearing. And then it. says there's going to be no photography, video, or recording that is allowed in. any courtroom, courthouse, hallway, or. lobby at any time, including the use of. cell phones to capture pictures, video, or audio recordings. So, you can see why. this is going to be an issue in terms of.
transparency, right? Do you know who's. not happy about this? Steve Fiser. We've. had him on the program before, the. private investigator who has been. looking into this case. He was hired by. the owner of the property where David. was reportedly staying. This is the. place near where the Tesla was. reportedly towed. He took to X and he. posted, quote, "The court is allowing. only 10 members of the public into the. preliminary hearing in the David case. That is outrageous and not how public. access to the court should work. There. was supposed to be a reasonable balance. between seating for the press and.
seating for the public. This is a large. courtroom, yet only 10 seats are being. made available to the public. Her family. has not appeared previously, and they. could be called as witnesses, so they. shouldn't be in the gallery anyway. They. are not being held for that purpose. Not. to mention, they're not allowing cameras. even for the testimony that doesn't. include CP. CP, I believe, to be child. pornography because they claimed that. that's what David allegedly had on his. devices. Documents have been sealed. throughout the case and now access to. the courtroom is being severely. restricted. At this point, it feels as.
though they are making up their own. rules. #david # Celeste Rivas Hernandez. All right, look, a little bit of a 180. here, but I just have to call this out. Um, for all you business owners out. there, running a business, it's tough. enough. Why make it harder doing things. manually, relying on dozens of apps that. don't really talk to each other, right? That's where our great sponsor, ODO, comes in. So, ODU is an all-in-one. business management platform with a full. suite of integrated apps that seamlessly. connect all your operations from sales. and accounting to manufacturing,
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to save you hundreds of hours. You know. what the best part is? You can choose. your apps and even build custom. workflows. So, it's like all fully. tailored to your business's specific. needs. Take your business to the next. level by consulting with an ODU expert. today for free at odo.comssidebar. So I want to talk about this and more a. lot more. I'm here with attorney. Imranar. Imran, great to see you. Thank. you for taking the time. First of all, your reaction to what Steve had to say. I mean, does he have a point? There's a. lot of people that want to know what's.
happening with this case. Do you think. it's wrong to limit the amount of. members of the public that should be in. there? Do you think it's wrong to not. have more cameras, more video, more. transparency? >> Well, there is a public right to access, right? And this is a a trial that's. going to really uh be grabbing the. public's attention. We know that. But at. the same time, uh the court, the judge. needs to balance uh maintaining order uh. in the courtroom. And that's also. regarding seating and who's in the.
courtroom uh and when they are in the. courtroom. and certainly just a very. practical consideration, the space in. the courtroom. Now, this is a it's a. small amount being allocated to members. of the public uh to get into that. courtroom. And of course, as you pointed. out, Jesse, it's not like there's going. to be cameras broadcasting or a feed in. a spillover room where people could sit. uh and watch, which has happened in. other trials where there's a lot of. public attention and interest. Uh so.
that is one consideration but then also. u the prime importance uh for the court. for the prosecutor for the defendant is. to have a fair trial and an orderly. trial and including this hearing. So all. the preliminary matters leading up to. trial. Uh and that's really a. consideration that the judge has here. I'm sure there's going to be challenges. to that. perhaps some motions filed uh. by members of the press or the public to.
try to get some access in there, but. really this the judge's discretion to. make sure that there's order in the. courtroom and certainly uh that there's. enough space and it's not turned into a. circus uh within that courtroom. >> Look, I'm biased. I would like more. attention. I would like more. transparency here. I think particularly. for a high-profile case like this in a. matter of public interest. That's just. my take. But, you know, look, again, I'm. kind of I really would like to see more, but I understand the court's. considerations and I understand the. considerations uh of the defendant as.
well. What about the idea of Celeste's. family being called as witnesses during. this preliminary hearing? Do you think. that's likely? I mean, for me, if I'm. thinking about it, I wonder if they. would testify to what they knew about. this alleged illegal sexual relationship. between Celeste and David. >> Yeah, they very well may be called. I I. think the prosecution has a lot of. evidence. You know, put aside the family. uh and what they may have to say uh. about their observations or what they. learned or heard from Celeste or later.
learned, you know, based on uh some of. the evidence that came out afterwards. And certainly the reporting of her. missing uh you know, there was that. first time and then she returned uh and. then the second time, right? That may be. information or evidence and testimony uh. that the prosecution wants to put. forward in this preliminary hearing. But. I also think that the prosecution has a. lot of evidence whe you know whether it. be the the forensic evidence uh the the. circumstantial evidence by visav uh the. electronic data and location data that.
they have that they may not need to call. uh the family into that courtroom. >> So you know we'll see. >> I want to get into that because I want. to take this um potentially witness by. witness but and I and I'm jumping ahead. a little bit here because this just. happened. I'm going to get into what we. can expect from the preliminary hearing. and who we can expect to testify. So, I'm not going in order because what just. came out? What just came out? There was. this video from Asia Collins. Okay, this. is a person that we believe to be.
David's former friend. She posted a. Twitch live stream on her account. earlier this month. It was titled, "Well, let's talk." Here's a portion of. what she said on that live stream. So. immediately I go to David. and I'm like, "Hey, uh, this girl saying. that you're with the 13-year-old, you. need to explain yourself." He was like, "Dude, that's not even true. Like, she's. like 19." And I was like, "No, she's. not. She said she's 13. Like, show me.
proof." And you know what? He showed me. proof. And I was like, "Okay, I'mma back. off. I feel like I'm harassing my. friend." And by the way, TMZ also. reported that back in June, she posted. online seemingly calling David a. psychopath who lied and betrayed. everyone around him. So, she makes the. point, look, how much more did you want. me to question him? It's not like I just. took his word. You know, he's saying you. show me proof. I'm not sure what you. want me to more to do, but she clearly. doesn't believe him now. And she was. trying to make the point to clarify uh. the situation. But she was like, she.
pressed him, you know, she was balancing. between pressing him about this alleged. relationship at the same time, not. harassing who she thought was a friend. I feel like that's significant. I feel. like she's going to testify. No. >> Yeah, she very well may be. And she put. it out there, right? So, she's certainly. on the radar of the prosecution uh and. everyone else who's really following. this this case and the events that led. up to David's arrest and the horrific. death here uh of of Celeste Rivas. So, you know, she may very well be someone.
who would come in and potentially. testify about that contemporaneous uh. sort of interaction with David at that. time. Uh where she's questioning the age. uh he's now coming to her and perhaps. giving her false information, well, giving her false information at that. time. Uh and it could be a real. credibility sort of uh uh question. there. Uh if there's any sort of defense. uh put forward by the defense as to not. knowing her age and the thing and all. that, but we see the evidence. I think. that's not necessarily going to hold up.
>> I thought she might also testify because. there was a portion where she said in. this, she goes, "There's not much more I. can I'm paraphring." She goes, "There's. not much more I can say for legal. reasons." So that makes me think like. she might testify. Let's also talk about. Neil Langston for a minute. Okay, Neil. Langston is somebody who's come up. throughout the course of this case. This. is another one of David's apparent. friends who ran in a circle. We know a. few months back there was a video. obtained by TMZ. was posted apparently. from July 2025 showing what appears to. be David and Langston at what seems to. be this Hollywood Hills property with.
David saying the smell is from him going. to the bathroom. And a prosecution. filing states that David quote lied to. friends, business associates, and others. about that strong smell of decay in and. around the home and the car. And Neo, right, Neil Langston, he was arrested in. Montana, was seemingly brought back to. LA to testify before a grand jury. In. fact, last week we learned the defense. is going to receive copies of. transcripts from grand jury proceedings, including the day we believe Langston.
showed up in court. Remember a few. months ago, TMZ captured footage of him. reportedly entering the courthouse. TMZ. also reported that he was only. testifying in front of a grand jury for. about 30 to 40 minutes. It raises. questions about what did he actually. testify to, whether he pleaded the. fifth. But we also know he too took to. social media after all this. There was. an Instagram story post where he. seemingly called David a dehead. Posted, quote, "Thankfully, I'm legally fine in. every way. And boy, do I got all my.
receipts for things. Haha." Then he. reportedly posted, "I think the worst. part is that I've told so many people. that I trust and I thought knew me as a. person, my side of things, all for that. to be thrown out the effing window as. soon as I get arrested and they slap. that D head's name next to mine." And. for the record, the thing I was arrested. for wasn't even charged. They never. filed it and my warrant was retracted. because there is more to the story than. what's on the news. Is he going to tell. his story at this preliminary hearing or. is he going to plead the fifth? Is he. going to be called as a witness?
>> Yeah, I think he may be. Right. No, he. already went into the grand jury and you. know, we don't know yet what uh that. testimony was, if any, and whether he. took the fifth at that point. Uh but. then he's also at the same time, Jesse, going out there uh on social media and. and putting this message out there, which may be a little cryptic, but it's. enough to decipher uh that is related to. this and to David. Uh that's certainly. there. And if he was represented by. council, you would uh uh and he was not. um.
has not given any testimony or any. statements that's going to be used by. the prosecution. You certainly would. think that he would have had the advice. You better not go out there on social. media and start yapping uh you know by. an attorney. So I think he may testify. I think he probably did testify before. that grand jury as to the smells, the. observations, the things that he learned. or he was told by David as this was. being covered up allegedly. Uh, and I. think that he may very well testify at. this preliminary hearing because it's.
part of the prosecution's case and it. gives context aside from the forensic. evidence, aides from the the ge. geographical evidence that's gleaned. from the Tesla and from the phone, etc. It's a live witness coming in as to. observations that he saw. >> Would he be granted immunity? Is that. something we would learn during the. course of this preliminary hearing? Is. that something the defense could ask him. if he testifies? >> Certainly. So, right. So, if the. prosecution struck a deal with him uh. and if there was any sort of leniency or.
or not uh immunity given, of course, in. grand jury, that's that's commonly done. uh even with this preliminary hearing, if there's any sort of deal with the. prosecution, that's going to be. exploited uh in any way they can from. the defense team. Uh but then again, can. you score points even if you are. attacking credibility? Uh because this. isn't necessarily a credibility. determination if he does take the stand. is really going to the observations uh. that that individual made at that. Hollywood Hills house, his interactions.
with David and not so much something. where he cut a deal with the prosecution. to get out of any any sort of. culpability here. >> Let me just take a step back for a. second. So, I'm I'm jumping ahead to. these witnesses who may be called. I. think the first witnesses to testify for. the prosecution in a preliminary hearing. are the lead detectives. No, I mean, the. ones that are going to kind of summarize. all the evidence. um based on LA County. District Attorney Nathan Hawkman. He had. this press conference um when it was. announced that David was arrested and I. recall he said at the time that the LAPD.
detectives on the case are Josh Buyers. and Corey Fel. Aren't they going to be. the main witnesses at this prelim? >> Yeah, Jesse, I think they will because. you have to uh analyze or look at the. real purpose or of this hearing, right? It's a preliminary hearing to determine. probable cause and whether uh David is. going to go to trial here and the. evidence was sufficient to support the. charges brought against him. So, what. are you going to do in terms of a. prosecution uh standpoint? You want to.
get that evidence before the jury and. you're going to have to establish chain. of custody and things like that and. observations by law enforcement what led. into the investigation here for probable. cause to arrest. And you're going to do. that through those detectives. And this. case really is a law enforcement. investigationheavy case uh because you. have the discovery of the body uh in the. Tesla and sort of the working uh your. way back from a law enforcement. standpoint and investigatory standpoint.
where you're looking at that geo data. when you're looking at you know the the. the purchases that David is allegedly. making uh for those very damning and. incriminating sort of items uh for. concealment of the body. And then you're. also looking at and and and getting in. evidence and testimony through the. detectives, through law enforcement, uh. as to the recovery of things like the. inflatable pool once they get the search. warrant. That's all damning evidence. here for the, you know, alleged uh.
allegations against David and ultimately. for the prosecution to make their case. And specifically in this preliminary. hearing, Jesse, I think that's what. they're going to lead with because they. want that out there before the court. early on to establish the evidence and. the sufficiency of that evidence. >> One of the biggest question marks from. the prosecution's prior filing was they. claimed David stabbed Celeste, watched. her bleed out. Do you think the. prosecution through these lead. detectives or maybe another witness is. going to explain how they know that? How.
they know that he allegedly watched her. bleed out? Are they just assuming that. because they claim that no one called. emergency services or do they have a. witness? Are these detectives going to. say we have surveillance footage of this. or is that again am I just looking too. much into it and they're saying they. watched her bleed out because he didn't. he allegedly didn't call emergency. services? >> Yeah. So, Jesse, when I read that in. some reporting, uh that was my uh. literally that was my initial reaction. like how did the do they know that uh to.
make that allegation uh that he watched. her bleed out, right? Um and I had that. same sort of question. So, I'm thinking. through it. Um, it may not necessarily. be something as clear-cut as. surveillance footage or a witness who uh. we probably would have heard about if. there was anyone present uh during this. h when this happened and and I think. there it's pretty clear there wasn't. Um, it may be supported by medical uh. evidence although she was so decomposed. the body parts that we know that the the.
medical examiner also struggled with the. determination at one point of death and. things like that, right? U so it could. just be speculation in some points, right? You know that uh there was no. assistance called, 911 wasn't called. we. know uh at least that you were. penetrating wounds that led uh to the. death and uh that likely there wasn't. any sort of remedy or or medical uh. treatment in terms of David allegedly uh.
you placing anything to stem the. bleeding or things like that. So, I. think we're not necessarily against some. clear damning evidence such as. surveillance, but I think you could put. two and two together and that's where. they get that statement. Do you think. these lead detectives are going to. finally reveal the text messages between. David and Celeste? Or is there going to. be a Celbrite expert or somebody from. Digital Forensics? Because you go back. to the prosecution's brief and they say. that there are these text message. exchanges between the defendant and the.
victim on April 22nd and April 23rd, 2025, where the victim threatened to. expose the defendant and destroy his. career. that the night prior, April. 22nd, 2025, defendant and the victim. engaged in a lengthy argument described. in detail in their text messages. The. messages revealed the victim's jealousy. over defendants's relationships with. other women as defendant led her to. believe they had a future together. She. became extremely upset and threatened to. disclose damaging information about her. relationship with defendant to end his. career and destroy his life. So, do you. think that either the lead investigators. or somebody from digital forensics is.
going to testify to those the content, the substance of those messages? >> Yeah, absolutely, Jesse. I think we're. going to see those text messages. We. already know uh the substance or the. summoned substance of those text. messages based on those filings and the. prosecution is likely going to call. someone from uh the you know the cell. phone carrier or an investigatory uh you. know body that is able to lay the. evidentiary foundation uh for those text. message to come into evidence. and of. course the detectives or law enforcement. uh staff who ultimately took those or or.
were able to get that off his phone or. any other methods to to get those. messages um that were exchanged between. the two. But I certainly believe that. we're going to see those text messages. And of course, the prosecution uh. doesn't have to show or prove motive. Uh. but there's always a desire, this is a. preliminary hearing, but let's say this. goes to trial, a desire from the jury to. hear motive, uh you know, for for a. complete narrative as to why something. so tragic happened. uh and those text.
messages give the prosecution uh the. ability to argue motive uh here in this. case. Whereas there's the jealousy, the. threat to expose him right when he's. about to to release that uh you know. that premier or you know the the first. album go on tour and on he's on the sort. of verge of stardom there. So that's. that's that motive there and I think. we're going to see the text messages uh. really taking a front role in the. evidence here. I I think you might also. hear from like his managers or agents or.
people around him to talk about the. height of his career too, right? If. they're trying to prove special. circumstances allegations, uh you know, killing for financial gain. I think a. part of it they would have to establish. where was he at in his career? Why did. he need Celeste to be quiet? >> Absolutely. And I think that's the the. uh story uh or at least the theory that. the prosecution is going to be putting. forward before that jury. By the way, in. terms of this alleged child pornography, right, that they claim is on David's.
devices, is that something that I. imagine will be presented at preliminary. hearing through the lead detectives. >> to some extent, Jesse. I think, right? you know, um we've heard about that. child pornography, uh whether it's. photographs or videos of Celeste Rivas, you know, I believe that may be the case. and we're not we're not going to see. that certainly, but we may hear about. that and I think we're going to hear the. testimony about that uh being uh. recovered off the cell phone because. again, it goes to uh some aspects of the.
crimes that he's charged with, of. course. Uh, and I think we're going to. we're certainly going to learn about. that and to the extent that he has it, I. think it was a relatively sizable amount. if I understand correctly, but that's. going to be damning evidence ultimately. for him uh when it's relevant to some of. the crimes that he's charged with. >> I also have to imagine the manager of. the towyard, the crime scene technicians. talking about what they discovered in. that Tesla is going to be also one of. the reasons why this is a three-day. hearing. There's so much to it, but I.
imagine that's something we could expect. too, right? >> Certainly. Right. And again, that goes. towards the the weight and the. sufficiency of the evidence and. ultimately the probable cause here. Um, and I certainly think we're going to. hear about it and it's going to be. difficult to hear when you learn about. the dismemberment, the torso and the. head in one bag and then the, you know, the body, the missing fingers. It's. gruesome, gruesome stuff. And whenever. you hear about this, certainly with a. public figure like David, you know, of. course there are allegations, but these. allegations here, they're really. difficult to stomach and you know, the.
aspects about this inflatable pool and. and you know what happened in that. Hollywood Hills home as the allegations. are put forth, you know, it's difficult. to listen to and certainly if you see. the photographic evidence, which in this. courtroom may very well be the case, it's going to be difficult to see. >> That's horrifying. It makes you think. about a jury that's going to ultimately. see this if this goes to trial. Um, and. also her family if she's if the family. is in the courtroom. Um, let's talk. about the medical examiner. I actually. think the medical examiner is going to. be a key witness for multiple reasons.
Um, first of all, if you go to the death. investigation report, it might be. several people. It might be it's it. lists out medical examiner investigator. Karen Topia, deputy medical examiner Dr. Anzel Nam, supervisor, deputy medical. examiner Dr. Grant Hoe, forensic. technician, Daniel Garcia, not sure. everybody's going to testify, but cause. and matter of Celeste's death are key. And I do wonder not only what the. substance of that testimony is going to. be and how it's going to be presented, but also what the defense is going to.
do. Right? Because if you go to the. report, it says death was pronounced at. the scene. Autopsy examination was. limited by extensive post-mortem. changes. There are two penetrating. wounds of the torso with smooth edges. that may represent sharp force injuries. The wound on the upper abdomen. penetrates the liver and the wound on. the left chest penetrates one of the. left intercostal spaces with disruption. of the adjacent ribs cortical surfaces. The left lung appears intact. The. bilateral upper and lower extremities.
show full thickness dismemberment. Multiple other skin and soft tissue. defects are present without apparent. associated internal injuries. The. ideology of these defects is not clearly. apparent due to severe post-mortem. changes. Postmortem toxicology performed. on liver tissue shows the presence of a. low level of ethanol which may be due to. post-mortem changes or ingestion and. does not appear to be contributo to the. cause of death. Given the history and. circumstances as currently known by me.
in the setting of the findings by. examination, ancillary studies and in. the absence of other definitive causes. of death, the cause of death is multiple. penetrating injuries. The manner of. death is classified as homicide. You. will not have this case without that. kind of testimony. So, Imran, two. questions to you here. One, what can we. expect from these witness this witness. or witnesses? And two, this to me feels. like where we're really going to see the. defense challenging the prosecution's. evidence because his attorneys.
originally said when he was arrested, 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. Talk to me. >> Sure. So, let's take that into two. parts, right? From the evidentiary. standpoint, what do we hear from these. uh medical examiners? Well, certainly. the methodology uh that they used in. analyzing and evaluating the body, right? That's going to be out there in. that courtroom. Uh and again, it goes to. the sufficiency of the evidence and what.
leads the prosecution to bringing these. charges uh against Burke, right? So, that's what we're going to hear from. them. And I'm certainly uh again, same. same, you know, you're going to hear. about the the condition of the body. is. going to probably be difficult to hear. about the decomposition of the body and. how they came to the ultimate uh medical. opinion or analysis uh as to the manner. of death uh and the cause of death uh. with those penetration wounds etc. Now. pivot to the defense standpoint. This is.
your opportunity from a defense. standpoint to really challenge the. evidence. there's so much uh which. circumstantially and and the other. forensic evidence uh and data and the. purchase history and all that that. doesn't really bode well uh for for. Burke in this case for David in this. case but when you look at the me and the. the sort of the analysis they did uh. that's some ground where you may be able. to achieve from a defense standpoint in. attacking the sufficiency of that was. this body too decomposed to really uh.
reasonably get to that opinion from the. medical examiner So, we expect that the. defense is going to do something right. on their end in terms of challenging the. evidence. Uh, and I think this may be. one point uh one area of evidence that. they may be able to score some points. >> You know, I think also might testify. River uh Riverside County Sheriff's. Department deputies because you go back. to this idea of trying to establish that. there was this alleged relationship. between David and Celeste, which makes. up its own set of charges, but also goes. to the special circumstances, the. motive, all that. So, and this goes back.
to the prosecution's filing. So much of. that was about her allegedly, you know, going missing, them going to David, right? Uh trying to contact him, him. denying that he had a relationship or. really knew her that well, um that. didn't know she was a minor. To me, I. feel like that's going to be a portion. of this case, too. Although, it does. become a question, how much does the. prosecution need to actually present at. a preliminary hearing to meet that low. burden? >> Yeah, certainly. And I think we may hear. it, right? uh because the prosecution uh.
put put yourself in their shoes for a. moment. They want to come in strong. They don't want to leave uh anything to. chance, right? If you have the evidence. uh and you have the testimony, uh you. should present it. And I think you may. hear about that, right? Sort of that uh. evasiveness or you know, untruths. potentially as as alleged here uh from. David. And um that really does go to a. consciousness of guilt potentially. Uh. and they want to put that before the. court, right? There's no need. You.
already know about it. The defense. already knows about it. No one's sort of. exploring any points by keeping it back. And I think we may hear that evidence. Uh certainly it would benefit the. prosecution if they put that before the. court. Uh you know, sort of the demeanor. and the statements being made uh by. David when he is uh you know, brought in. for questioning. So, I expect that we're. going to hear that evidence. >> Before I let you go, one last thought I. had was whether or not we are going to. hear from David's family as witnesses. Number one, you know, we know that there. was uh reporting that they were trying.
to fight the subpoenas to testify, presumably a grand jury or grand jury. But we also believe, at least I believe. that they may be asked, "What were your. interactions with Celeste? What did you. see between David and Celeste?" Um, you. know, there was this part about it where. you go back to the prosecution's filing. and they say that uh she had spent. significant amount of time with him, including uh at his home in Texas to. meet his family, but also the car. itself, the Tesla, right? The Tesla.
itself, there is reporting according to. authorities, it was registered to David. in Hemstead, Texas. You think his family. is going to make an appearance, testify. at this preliminary hearing? >> Possibly. Right. You know there is that. uh interesting fact uh that you just. mentioned was that you know he took her. to meet his family right so they had the. opportunity at that point to observe the. relationship their interactions with one. another and if the prosecution finds. that that's going to somehow move the. ball forward here at this hearing you. may hear from I certainly think you may.
hear from them uh if this does go to. trial before a jury uh because then. obviously uh the the uh depth of the. evidence and the broadness of the. evidence uh is going to be all the the. much more greater there. Um so you may. hear from them at this preliminary. hearing, you may not. I don't think the. prosecution necessarily has to call. them. Uh and also with the registration. of the car, they may be able to get that. in in in certain other ways. Take. judicial notice of the registration of. the car. Uh but you know, they are.
potential witnesses here and certainly. at trial, I think you may hear from. them. >> Iran, I'm sorry. Thanks so much for. coming on. We'll see what happens. tomorrow. >> Thanks for having me, Jesse. 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 podcast. You can also check us out on NBC's. Peacock as well. If you want to follow. me, X Instagram, my NewsNation Show, Jesse Weber live, Monday through Friday, 11 pm [music] Eastern. See you next. time, everybody.
