{"id":693052,"date":"2025-10-02T15:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T12:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T15:20:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T12:20:14","slug":"celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Celeste Rivas investigation: a lawyer answers the biggest remaining questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a405ea5dcebd\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a405ea5dcebd\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions\/#Criminal_lawyer_Michael_J_Alber_Esq_shares_his_perspective_on_the_knottiest_details_of_the_case_and_how_the_publics_reaction_is_impacting_the_investigation\" >Criminal lawyer Michael J. Alber, Esq. shares his perspective on the knottiest details of the case and how the public\u2019s reaction is impacting the investigation.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"deck\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Criminal_lawyer_Michael_J_Alber_Esq_shares_his_perspective_on_the_knottiest_details_of_the_case_and_how_the_publics_reaction_is_impacting_the_investigation\"><\/span>Criminal lawyer Michael J. Alber, Esq. shares his perspective on the knottiest details of the case and how the public\u2019s reaction is impacting the investigation.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"content_blocks\">\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-274547\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left image\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/GettyImages-3036472_k9nkr3\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Celeste Rivas investigation: a lawyer answers the biggest remaining questions\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><\/p>\n<p>      Photo by Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-274531\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            On September 8, officials in Los Angeles discovered the decomposed body of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in the trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to singer and songwriter known as d4vd, according to police reports. In the weeks since, the details around the homicide have sparked a tide of public intrigue as normal people and streamers with millions of followers like Adin Ross alike pour over limited factual details and circulating unverified material. Law enforcement has not named a suspect at press time, and questions remain unanswered. Representatives for d4vd have said he is cooperating with the investigation.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            With so many theories swirling, we hopped on the phone with Michael J. Alber, Esq, a criminal lawyer in New York City, to get his perspective on the knottiest details of the case and what else needs to be answered.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-274533\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <b>The FADER: Let\u2019s discuss what I think is the biggest question people have right now: why no one hasn\u2019t been charged or taken into custody yet.<br \/><\/b><br \/>Michael J. Alber: Having a body in a car in and of itself is not going to be enough to have somebody accused of and have a murder case proven. There\u2019s a key query of \u201cWho did it?\u201d and \u201cHow did it h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en?\u201d In a case like this, to track down the \u201cWho did it?\u201d part, there\u2019s going to be cell phone data, you&#8217;re going to see exactly where the parties\u2019 locations were, you&#8217;ll see the circumstances leading up to where the deceased is. I understand that the car may have been sitting for a while, and that&#8217;s obviously a concern. It appears as though the body may have been dead for a long time, so that&#8217;s gonna be problematic in tracing the chain of events as well. Forensics are gonna be extensive in a case like this.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            <b>Why hasn\u2019t anyone been named a suspect? <br \/><\/b><br \/>No homicide detective wants to be cross-examined about a rush to judgment in a case because saying somebody is a suspect is\u2026 the nomenclature associated with it has such a negative connotation. I think [it] brings with it a certain prejudice, and if there&#8217;s ultimately that rush to judgment and [someone is] charged, [their defense team] would say \u201cYou were labeling them before you even had sufficient evidence to label them.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            On the flip side of it, as you&#8217;ve seen in other national <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> stories, the FBI was naming somebody a suspect pretty quickly and then releasing them moments thereafter in a method of transparency. There&#8217;s different philosophies, but I can understand the Los Angeles Police Department&#8217;s hesitation in labeling [anyone] as a suspect publicly, at least without more information to do so because of negative nomenclature.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-274535\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <b>Since the news broke and the body was found and police identified the victim as being Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a plethora of unverified material has surfaced online. Are these materials admissible in a court of law? <br \/><\/b><br \/>It can be if the government can issue a connection and develop a storyline for this murder as to what&#8217;s happened. They can use information provided it&#8217;s relevant to motive and intent, anything that helps the jury understand elements of a crime.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            [On] September 17th, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_new\" href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/post\/hollywood-hills-home-where-d4vd-has-stayed-is-searched-body-teen-girl-celeste-rivas-found-singers-tesla-sources-say\/17842387\/\">detectives with the LAPD&#8217;s robbery Homicide Division served a search warrant on d4vd\u2019s rental home<\/a> located not far from where the Tesla was parked. That means [there was] reasonable cause to believe that contraband might be in that house and\/or evidence of crime is in that house because those warrants are going to have to be articulated with information that is specific enough to be able to do that.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            <b>Do you think the police are paying attention to these screenshots and these song snippets? <br \/><\/b><br \/>I think law enforcement absolutely will pay attention to that. I think anything in the public domain as part of their investigation, given the profile of the case, will be reviewed. \n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-274536\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <b>What about lyrics in songs? <br \/><\/b><br \/>I had a case in the Eastern District of New York, a federal case that went to trial, and the government used lyrics from a rapper at trial. Lyrics in a case can be deemed to be party-opponent statements. Just because they are lyrics in and of itself does not preclude them from being entered into evidence in any case.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            <b>The only statement that d4vd\u2019s team has released is that he is aware of the investigation and that he&#8217;s cooperating with law enforcement. What do you interpret that to actually mean?<br \/><\/b><br \/>That&#8217;s great that he&#8217;s cooperating, but if he&#8217;s getting sound legal advice, he should not be making statements to anybody, anywhere, anytime, any place. I&#8217;m sure d4vd has attorneys that are not having him speak, but are in fact cooperating with law enforcement by assisting to the extent that they can without incriminating d4vd. d4vd could be innocent, completely without fault, but any defense lawyer worth their salt should be making a very careful determination as to how he&#8217;s presented and what is specifically said on his behalf. \n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-274537\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <b>Back to the outsized public reaction: how is this impacting the case? Do you think it&#8217;s affecting how officials are releasing information? It&#8217;s been about 3 weeks and there\u2019s been very little new information. <br \/><\/b><br \/>Given the profile and circumstances of the case, I think LAPD is probably being very cautious as to how the circumstances are being released to the public. The reason why is because some law enforcement official doesn&#8217;t want to get cross-examined about making a statement that&#8217;s completely wrong. At present, while it might look bad, you have a dead body in a car that&#8217;s registered to somebody who\u2019s doing prominent work in the singing world, he should be afforded the presumption of innocence. And all these things coming out could taint the jury pool in a case like this. I think his attorneys, his publicists, they [need to] do a good job of maintaining his image as just that, a rapper, humble, caring, that is not related to this homicide.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            <b>His manager <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_new\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/news\/d4vd-manager-josh-marshall-celeste-rivas-death-investigation\">recently made a statement<\/a>.<br \/><\/b><br \/>His manager never should have made a comment. I mean, look, clearly there&#8217;s something very tragic that happened here. And in this type of circumstance he should not be having managers make comments at all. The manager is denying receiving an email that&#8217;ll be proven or not proven, whether the email is sent and whether or not it&#8217;s an email address connected to the manager, which ultimately could undermine anybody around d4vd.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-274538\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <b>As someone who&#8217;s been following this case, what questions do you want answered? <br \/><\/b><br \/>The timeline of where Ms. Celeste Rivas was. I read from the news that she had some issues in her own life and upbringing and that she had previously, I believe, gone missing. I think that&#8217;s something that should be looked into more. I would like to know the fruits of the September 17th raid, which we&#8217;re not going to find out. Several bags of evidence were seized from the home. That&#8217;s going to be telling. I think the relationship, and what the extent of it was, [will likely be examined]: what others may have said about it, what she may have told her friends. I think that&#8217;s a very key aspect. \n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Steffanee Wang<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/2025\/10\/01\/celeste-rivas-investigation-a-lawyer-answers-the-biggest-remaining-questions\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Criminal lawyer Michael J. Alber, Esq. shares his perspective on the knottiest details of the case and how the public\u2019s reaction is impacting the investigation. Photo by Frazer Harrison\/Getty Images On September 8, officials in Los Angeles discovered the decomposed body of 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez in the trunk of an impounded Tesla registered to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":693053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/c_limit,w_1024\/c_crop,h_533,w_1024,x_0,y_123,f_auto,q_auto:eco\/GettyImages-3036472_grlzom\/GettyImages-3036472_grlzom.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[28101,48],"class_list":["post-693052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-pop","tag-internet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}