D4vd to face jury for teen’s murder, dismemberment; Could Bryan Kohberger get a new trial? – TCN Sidebar

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
A word of warning. This podcast explores graphic and disturbing stories and includes some strong language. It therefore may not be suitable for our young listeners or other folks who may find it disturbing.

**Joshua Ritter** (0:12)
Hello and welcome to The Sidebar, presented by True Crime News, taking you inside the courtrooms of high-profile and notorious cases from across the country. I'm your host, Joshua Ritter. I'm a criminal defense lawyer based in Los Angeles and previously an LA County prosecutor for a decade. We're recording this on Tuesday, July 28th, 2026
In this week's episode, Lindsay Clancy's ongoing trial as the mother accused of strangling her three children faces testimony from her ex-husband. Plus, Bryan Kohberger's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the Idaho murders. But first, singer David is headed to trial for the alleged murder and dismemberment of a teen. Today, we're joined by Randolph Rice, an attorney and legal analyst who can catch on CBS, Fox, NewsNation and many other media outlets. Randolph, welcome, my friend. How are you?

**Randolph Rice** (1:03)
I'm great. Thanks for having me on today on these really high-profile, popular among the true crime community cases that everybody's talking about right now. And boy, are they some gruesome ones that we're looking at here. These are not the run-of-the-mill crimes.

**Joshua Ritter** (1:17)
No, they're not. As if there is a run-of-the-mill crime, but these are certainly stand out amongst the stuff that we usually talk about in how graphic they are and how, especially in the case of Lindsay Clancy that we're going to get to in a moment, how it seems to really have struck a chord with a lot of people, people feeling very strongly about that case.
We'll get into all of it, but first, let's jump to Los Angeles, California, where after five days of detailed and sometimes gruesome testimony, a judge found probable cause to put singer David on trial. The musician, legal name David Burke, is accused of killing teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez after she threatened to expose their illicit relationship. Burke showed no emotion when the ruling was handed down and largely remained stoic as prosecutors outlined some of their evidence in the case. This included graphic photos of Rivas' body, details of the pair's sexual relationship, including an alleged abortion when the girl was just 13 plus thousands of tax. One night before she was killed, Rivas allegedly texted Burke, quote, I will end your career and your life. Referencing Burke's surging popularity and the potential financial motive alleged by prosecutors. While no trial day is yet scheduled, Burke will appear in court on August 31st for an arraignment and we will continue to keep you all updated.
I'm curious, where you practice, Randolph, do they have prelims? Because we've been talking with other attorneys and it's not across the United States that the prelim is used, but if you do, tell us about how it is usually used and the standard just for listeners' understanding.

**Randolph Rice** (2:56)
Yeah, in Maryland, we do have the preliminary hearing. I don't find it to be used as often in big high-profile cases, but also it may be a little different because of the fact that we don't get as much TV coverage in Maryland because we are one of the few states that do not allow TV cameras inside of the courtroom.
Most cases are taken before a grand jury in Maryland. If they are serious, and a grand jury is a secret hearing where the prosecutor presents evidence to this group of, you know, it could be 12, 24, however many people are seated, and those people decide if there's probable cause. But in this situation, as you mentioned, the preliminary hearing, which we do have here, you have to convince a judge of that very low standard of probable cause, which is just more likely than not, you know, and it's very relaxed. And you know, I'm sure you've done hundreds of them yourself, where the prosecutor comes in. And most of them, by the way, they take maybe an hour or two. They don't take five days, right? But we've been seeing this more often in these high-profile cases where the prosecution has been putting on five days of testimony. The usually call a couple of witnesses, the lead detective hearsay is admissible in most situations, so the detective can tell what somebody else said. And then the judge determines, you know, I think there's enough here to move forward. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time, you succeed, that the prosecution succeeds at the preliminary hearing and the case moves on to the next phase. So, and again, that's what happened here.

**Joshua Ritter** (4:25)