D4vd Switches to Public Defender in 14-Year-Old Girl Murder Case

3 articles · Updated · NBC News · Aug 31

Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday replaced D4vd’s private lawyers with a public defender after the 21-year-old singer told Judge Charlaine Olmedo he wanted appointed counsel.
Blair Berk said the court allowed her team to withdraw after determining David Burke qualified for appointed counsel; the reason for the split with his private attorneys was not disclosed.
Walid Fouad Kandeel, the new defense lawyer, sought more time at arraignment, but Olmedo denied a continuance, entered not guilty pleas on Burke’s behalf and set the next hearing for Oct. 19.
Burke remains jailed without bail in the killing of Celeste Rivas Hernandez, 14, whose remains were found last September in the trunk of an abandoned Tesla.
The switch comes a month after Olmedo ordered Burke to stand trial, with prosecutors citing messages showing Hernandez had become pregnant at 13 and had an abortion.