Other witnesses over the course of the five-day hearing included Dr. Ho, who testified that Hernandez appeared to have had two stab wounds, either of which could have led to her bleeding to death. And a few music industry associates took the stand. Benjamin Greger, who formerly worked on Burke’s management team and is currently helping the musician’s mother find a new entertainment attorney for her imprisoned son, according to his testimony, answered queries about Burke’s finances—and the kind of big money potentially at stake in his future.
The music industry has a long, dark history of keeping sexual misconduct under wraps—something that #MeToo didn’t change much, with a few exceptions. So one of the many questions hanging in the air is who, if anyone, in Burke’s wider circle of colleagues and friends, knew about his relationship with Hernandez? How many of them might have looked the other way, or even facilitated it?
While on the stand, Greger testified that he knew Burke had bought tickets for Hernandez so she could travel with him to London at one point—but said he knew nothing about who Hernandez was, or the nature of their relationship. Twitch streamer Aysia Collins recently posted a livestream in which she said that she confronted Burke after hearing that Hernandez was a minor. “He was like, ‘Dude, that’s not even true, she’s like 19.’” Collins said she demanded proof: “He showed me proof. And I was like, Okay, Imma back off. I feel like I’m harassing my friend.”
The defense argued that many people in their circles knew of the relationship—including her parents, who at one point consented to her accompanying Burke alone on a trip to London—though it’s not clear how many, if any, of them knew the sexual nature of it. But considering that the two had matching tattoos on their fingers that read “shhhh” and that they had each other’s names inked on their hands, it seems clear that their bond was pretty intimate.
There was some internecine drama in the courtroom over the course of the five-day hearing, including tense exchanges between Silverman and defense attorney Blair Berk, who previously represented Harvey Weinstein. At one point, Judge Olmedo noted that the two women had faced each other recently in a difficult murder trial, which found the defendant guilty of murder, and said that “emotions may be overflowing” from that experience. Tension was high with the possibility of a death sentence hanging overhead, though the DA has not yet said whether the prosecution will pursue this. The proceedings were structured so that the defense did not get to present witnesses in this preliminary hearing; all they could do was object to the prosecution’s narrative and point out discrepancies in the testimonies presented.
In her final argument, defense attorney Marilyn Bednarski made a motion of insufficiency on all counts. She argued that there was “no evidence that he harbored a deliberate intention to kill Miss Hernandez,” and that none of the hundreds of texts collected by the prosecution show any statements of intent to harm her. “He repeatedly expressed his love and care for Miss Hernandez, even when they broke up.” Silverman described Burke’s actions as “grooming” and gaslighting,” and told the court, “All of the charges and allegations have been proven way beyond the standard required” for a preliminary hearing. The judge agreed.
