Overview
- At a July 7 status conference, attorneys for both sides said they are ready and a multi‑day preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin July 21.
- Burke remains jailed without bail and has pleaded not guilty to first‑degree murder, sexual‑abuse and mutilation charges.
- Prosecutors say the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from multiple penetrating injuries and that surveillance, device data and purchase records link Burke to the Tesla where the victim’s dismembered remains were found.
- Los Angeles County’s Department of Human Resources has ordered recorded interviews of more than a dozen medical examiner employees over possible unauthorized access to Rivas Hernandez records after media reports published graphic autopsy details.
- If the judge finds sufficient evidence at the July 21 hearing, Burke could be bound for trial on special‑circumstance counts that carry life without parole or possible death and prosecutors will later decide whether to seek capital punishment.