LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Jurors were handed the case Friday against a Hollywood producer charged with murder in connection with the drug overdose deaths of a model and her friend.

The downtown Los Angeles jury received final instructions Friday morning before being sent to decide the fate of David Brian Pearce.

In her closing argument Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Catherine Mariano told jurors that Pearce "knew the dangers of fentanyl," but said he still gave fentanyl and GHB to 24-year-old model and aspiring actress Christy Giles and her 26-year-old friend Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola "because he wanted to sexually assault them."

Pearce's attorney, Jeff Voll, countered that his client "didn't give them drugs." He urged jurors to acquit Pearce.

The 42-year-old man is charged with murder in connection with the deaths of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola, who were taken to separate Southland hospitals about two hours apart on Nov. 13, 2021.

Along with the murder charge, a grand jury indictment returned against Pearce in December 2022 charged him with murder in connection with the deaths of the two women, along 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 all of the sexual assault charges involving alleged crimes against seven women between 2007 and 2020.

Co-defendant Brandt Walter Osborn, 45, accompanied Pearce in a Toyota Prius with no license plates attached to the hospitals where Giles and Cabrales- Arzola were left, and is charged with two counts of being an accessory after the fact.

Osborn's attorney, Michael Artan, told jurors that the "just outcome would be that Brandt Osborn would be found not guilty on the two counts" with which he is charged. He questioned the accounts of two key prosecution witnesses, including Michael Ansbach, who was arrested along with Pearce and Osborn but never charged.

Ansbach testified that Pearce told him, "Dead girls don't talk."

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 and ketamine, while Cabrales-Arzola died of multiple organ failure with cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) and other undetermined drugs found in her system.

The prosecutor told jurors in her closing argument that there was no reason for Pearce's DNA to be found on the two women, including under Cabrales- Arzola's fingernails, if they weren't drugged and then sexually assaulted.

"This is no accident, no mistake," she said, calling it an attempt by Pearce to "get away" with what he had done for years.

Mariano told jurors that Pearce and Osborn waited hours to leave the residence they shared on Olympic Boulevard in the Pico-Robertson district to take Giles to the hospital when she was already dead and then returned to their apartment and took Cabrales-Arzola to a different hospital about two hours later.

Pearce had met the two at an after-hours rave in downtown Los Angeles, according to the prosecutor.

"He knows that Pearce is responsible for the girls' condition," the deputy district attorney said. "He's doing it to cover up the crime."

Pearce's attorney countered that prosecutors had not met their burden to prove the case.

The defense lawyer questioned why Pearce would have given fentanyl to both of the women and Ansbach, who was "his buddy of 20 years," and suggested that the drug may have instead been "accidentally ingested" after being mistaken for cocaine.

Pearce's lawyer noted that one witness reported that she had never seen Giles use drugs provided by a stranger.

"They never found fentanyl in his house. They never found GHB ...," Voll told jurors. "There's no proof that Mr. Pearce got rid of anything."

Voll also urged the panel to acquit Pearce of the sexual assault charges involving the other seven women, saying the majority did not go to a hospital or immediately report their allegations to law enforcement. He said some of the alleged victims didn't come forward until they heard that Pearce was being charged in connection with the deaths.

In his rebuttal argument, Deputy District Attorney Seth Carmack told jurors that Pearce drugged the two women and Ansbach "because he didn't want anybody to leave," and alleged that he "was giving them drugs to facilitate the sexual assault."

"The defendant is a rapist and now he is a murderer," Carmack said.

During the trial, jurors heard from both defendants.

In testimony this week, Pearce denied giving the two women the drugs that killed them and said he "didn't personally see" them consume any drugs after they returned to his residence.

Under questioning by his attorney about the deaths of the two women, the defendant disputed 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 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.

Pearce said he came back into the room to find Ansbach 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.

"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 asked.

"Yes," the defendant responded.

When asked if they appeared to be in pain, Pearce responded that they did not.

Under cross-examination, 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 DNA found on the two women.

In questioning by his lawyer, Pearce denied sexually assaulting either of the two women.

Pearce also denied sexually assaulting the seven women, along with five other women who also testified against him.

Pearce said he became concerned about Giles at about noon that day, but acknowledged that 911 was not called. He testified that he and Osborn drove to a hospital hours later to seek medical treatment for her and that they 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 including "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.

Osborn 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 dumb-founded," 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."

Giles' mother, Dusty, wrote on Facebook after her daughter's death that she hoped the coroner's findings would lead to criminal charges being filed.

"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.