By TERRI VERMEULEN KEITH
Testifying Tuesday in his own defense, a Hollywood producer charged with murder in connection with the deaths of a model and her friend denied giving them the drugs that killed them.
David Brian Pearce told the downtown Los Angeles jury hearing the case against him that he “didn’t personally see” 24-year-old model and aspiring actress Christy Giles and her 26-year-old friend Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola “consume any drugs,” and said he had “absolutely not” provided the women with any cocaine after they returned from an early-morning rave in downtown Los Angeles to his residence on Olympic Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
Pearce, 45, is charged in the deaths of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola, who were taken to separate Southern California hospitals about two hours apart on Nov. 13, 2021.
Giles was already dead when she was taken to Southern California Hospital in Culver City, while Cabrales-Arzola, an architect, was alive outside Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital but in critical condition. Her family took her off life support later that month, a day before her 27th birthday.
The deaths of the two women were classified as homicides by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, with toxicology reports finding multiple drugs present in both victims’ systems, according to the department.
Giles died of a mixture of cocaine, fentanyl, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and ketamine, while Cabrales-Arzola died of multiple organ failure with cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) and other undetermined drugs found in her system.
A grand jury indictment returned against Pearce in December 2022 also charges him with three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual penetration by use of force and one count each of rape of an unconscious person and sodomy by use of force — with those charges involving alleged crimes against seven women between 2007 and 2020.
During his testimony, Pearce denied sexually assaulting the seven women, along with five other women who also testified against him.
Under questioning by his own attorney about the deaths of the two women, the defendant disputed key prosecution witness Michael Ansbach’s claim that Pearce had given glasses of red wine to the two women and that Pearce subsequently gave him an energy drink mixed with vodka which “had a distinctly awful taste to it.”
Pearce said he came back into the room to find Ansbach — who was arrested but never charged — and the women had all passed out after he spent a minimum of 35 minutes bathing his dog and cleaning up after the dog had been left for about 12 hours in a bathroom.
Pearce also denied providing cocaine to either the women or Ansbach when they returned to the home, saying that Ansbach was filming an essential piece that they were working on together.
“I assumed they just needed to sleep it off,” he said of the three, adding that it wasn’t uncommon for him to see people in that state at his residence.
Pearce told the jury that he picked Giles up and moved her to a spare bedroom and then picked up Cabrales-Arzola and took her to his own room, where he fell asleep.
“Were they breathing?” his attorney, Jeff Voll, asked.
“Yes,” the defendant responded.
When asked if they appeared to be in pain, Pearce responded that they did not.
Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Seth Carmack, the defendant maintained that the two women were fully clothed when he moved them in his house and then to a Toyota Prius — which was driven to the two hospitals — and acknowledged that “my DNA was everywhere” when asked about a vaginal swab taken from Giles and DNA under Cabrales-Arzola’s fingernails.
In questioning by his own lawyer, Pearce denied sexually assaulting either of the two women.
Pearce said he became concerned about Giles at about noon that day, but acknowledged that he didn’t call 911. He testified that he and co-defendant Brandt Walter Osborn — who is charged with two counts of being an accessory after the fact — drove to a hospital hours later to seek medical treatment for her. He said the two were directed to leave the hospital after he helped put Giles on a hospital gurney.
Pearce testified that he and Osborn subsequently returned home and grew concerned about Giles’ friend, who couldn’t be awakened. He recounted performing chest compressions and CPR on her and believing that she was in a “better situation.” He said he asked Osborn to look up a different hospital, Kaiser Permanente, because he believed it was closer.
He said it was “absolutely impossible” that a neighbor who lived downstairs from him could have heard one of the women moaning in pain that day as she had testified.
“One-hundred percent she’s wrong,” Pearce said under questioning by the prosecutor.
Pearce denied subsequently doing internet searches for topics that included “Ukraine and non-extradition,” saying it just popped up and that he had been thinking about traveling to Ukraine to document that country’s war with Russia.
Pearce also denied having plans to put his dog up for adoption, saying that he was letting someone know that he would miss his dog during his anticipated travel to Ukraine.
Pearce also denied telling Ansbach, “Dead girls don’t talk,” with Osborn saying when he was called to the stand in his own defense that he didn’t hear that comment.
Osborn told jurors that he went to bed when the group arrived home and that he only heard Pearce ask if they would like some wine. He said Pearce called him that afternoon into the room where Giles had been left, saying that it looked like she wasn’t breathing.
Osborn testified that Pearce attempted to lift Giles up and that she “relieved herself all over him,” prompting Pearce to take a quick shower before leaving for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as Ansbach testified earlier during the trial that he had suggested.
He said Pearce subsequently “freaked” and said, “We can’t bring her here,” after arriving at Cedars-Sinai.
“I said, ‘This girl needs medical attention!’” Osborn said, his voice growing emotional as he told jurors that Pearce told him to get back in the car.
He said the two drove with Giles to the hospital in Culver City, where a security employee saw the back of the vehicle and “asked where the (license) plates were.”
“I was dumbfounded,” Osborn told jurors, explaining that he had no idea that the license plates had been taken off the vehicle. He said he called Pearce “an idiot.”
Osborn is expected to conclude his testimony Wednesday, with jurors expected to hear closing arguments after testimony concludes.
In opening statements earlier this month, Deputy District Attorney Catherine Mariano told jurors that Pearce is “nothing short of a sexual predator,” and “didn’t care if they (the two women) lived or died.” The prosecutor said he and Osborn “waited and waited,” and then opted against taking the women to the closest hospital and instead drove them separately in the Toyota Prius without any license plates to two separate hospitals.
The deputy district attorney said the men didn’t call police and opted instead to “cover their tracks.”
Pearce’s attorney acknowledged that Giles and Cabrales-Arzola “sadly passed away,” but told jurors that the evidence would show that the two women were drinking alcohol and ingesting drugs before they even met Pearce and his friends at a rave.
“Someone made a mistake. Someone made a tragic mistake,” Voll said.
Voll suggested that the women had ingested fentanyl while assuming it was cocaine, but maintained that it was “not at the hands” of his client.
The defense lawyer said the sex assault charges mostly involve alleged victims who waited to contact police until after the hearing on television about the deaths of the two women.
Voll said his client should be acquitted of all of the charges against him.
Osborn’s attorney, Michael Artan, told jurors in his opening statement that his client — whom he described as an actor at the time — “didn’t know what if anything was going on with respect to drugs” after arriving home early that morning.
“It appeared that they were passed out — not inconsistent with using illicit drugs the night before,” Artan said, telling jurors that the two men first took Giles to the hospital when it became clear that she needed medical attention and that they returned to find that Cabrales-Arzola was not recovering from being passed out and took her to a separate hospital.
He said there was nothing to indicate that Osborn knew the license plates were not on the Prius that was used to transport the women to the hospitals.
Artan told jurors that he will also ask them to acquit his client of the two accessory charges against him.
Giles’ mother, Dusty, wrote on Facebook that she hoped the coroner’s findings would lead to criminal charges being filed over the women’s deaths.
“While we her family all along knew and felt strongly our baby was murdered, it is now officially listed as her cause of death!” Dusty Giles posted earlier. “With this our prayers are the L.A. County D.A.’s Office will move quickly and swiftly on re-arresting ALL parties involved and this time PRESS THE CHARGES! Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
Pearce was initially charged in December 2021 with sexually assaulting four women, with prosecutors subsequently adding sexual assault charges involving three other women. The District Attorney’s Office subsequently filed the murder and drug charges before taking the case to the grand jury, which returned the indictment.
Pearce remains jailed, while Osborn is free on bond.
