Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced Tuesday that his office will not seek the death penalty against Nick Reiner in the murders of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner.
Hochman, 61, delivered the decision at a morning press conference outside Los Angeles Superior Court, where a preliminary hearing in the double murder case was scheduled to begin immediately after. The maximum sentence Nick Reiner now faces is life without the possibility of parole.
“In deciding whether or not the DA’s office was going to seek the death penalty, we have gone through a rigorous review where we look at the aggravating factors as well as the mitigating factors, where we have spoken to the victims’ family, we have spoken to prosecutors, law enforcement, and I’ve worked with the most senior people in the District Attorney’s office,” Hochman explained at the podium.
“After a careful and thorough review of all these factors, the District Attorney’s Office will not be seeking the death penalty in this case. That means that the maximum sentence that Mr. [Nick] Reiner will be looking at is life without the possibility of parole.”
The announcement came as Nick Reiner, 33, appeared in person alongside his public defender, Kimberly Greene, who took over his representation in January after high-profile attorney Alan Jackson withdrew from the case. Judge Sam Ohta is presiding over the hearing to determine whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to send the case to trial.
Hochman also addressed the sealing of grand jury transcripts, noting he had consulted with the victims’ surviving children. The Reiners’ eldest son, Jake Reiner, 33, and only daughter, Romy Reiner, 28, had urged the court to keep the records closed.
“After speaking to the victims’ next of kin, that is Jake and Romy Reiner, that they have expressed a strong desire for these transcripts to remain sealed,” Hochman shared.
“And they basically have said that the disclosure to the public and the media of the details and evidence of the killing of their parents will cause them additional trauma and harm. And they have respectively asked for the court to keep the transcripts sealed.”
Nick Reiner was arrested by Los Angeles Police Department officers on Dec. 14, shortly after his director-actor father and photographer mother were found stabbed to death inside their Brentwood home. Rob Reiner was 78; Michele Reiner was 70.
According to their death certificates, the couple died within “minutes” of receiving “multiple sharp force injuries” with a “knife, by another.” Nick was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances of multiple murders and personal use of a knife.
Last month, prosecutors secured a new indictment accusing him of planning the murders. The filing added the allegation of “lying in wait,” a special circumstance that carries a potential sentence of life in prison without parole — now the harshest penalty available following Hochman’s decision. Nick has also been accused of using a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife, and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Nick had gotten into an argument with his parents at Conan O’Brien’s Dec. 13 Christmas party, the night before the killings. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia before the murders and has a long history of drug addiction.