There has been a key development in the trial involving D4VD and murder victim, Celeste Rivas.
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The Romantic Homicide creators' lawyers Blair Berk, Marilyn Bednarski, and Regina Peter, have officially withdrawn themselves as his counsel.
"This morning the court granted our request to withdraw as counsel and appoint the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office. After it was determined David qualified for appointed counsel," Berk said in the statement (NBC News).
D4VD's Lawyers Withdraw From Case
Despite withdrawing from the case, Berk says that he and his legal team still "continue to support" D4VD. As he goes through the remainder of the legal process against the "serious charges," that he is facing.
The singer's fate will now lie in the hands of a court-appointed lawyer. Berk added that even though the case has been handed over to the Public Defender's Office, he believes they are "highly capable," of making sure that D4VD gets justice.
"We are grateful that the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office has taken over the representation. And that David has a highly capable and committed team of attorneys and investigators behind him," the statement concludes.
While Berk, Peter, and Berdnarski did not state a reason for withdrawing their representation, it is believed that it is financially related.
With this being a high-profile case, there were plenty of reactions from users on social media.
"This is how lawyers should treat people like him — take up his case even though you know he's done for, suck up all his money and leave him for dead," one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
"He knows he's cooked so he wants the remainder of the money/assets to go to family," a second user chimed in.
When D4VD was initially arrested in April, his lawyers maintained that they believed the singer was innocent.
To bring things up to speed, Rivas' body was found dismembered inside a Tesla registered to D4VD in September 2025. The vehicle was abandoned in Hollywood Hills, California, before being towed to a nearby impound lot. After receiving several reports of a strange smell coming from the vehicle, police were called and discovered Rivas' decomposing body.
