Prosecutors announced Tuesday that they will not seek the death penalty for 33-year-old Nick Reiner, who was indicted for the first-degree murder of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, in Los Angeles last December. If convicted, he now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Decision Not to Seek Capital Punishment
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the decision during a morning news conference ahead of a pre-trial hearing. Hochman explained that the office reached its conclusion following a rigorous review of aggravating and mitigating factors.
Nathan Hochman, Los Angeles County District Attorney
Hochman told reporters outside a downtown courthouse that he and senior prosecutors in his office considered aggravating and mitigating factors and family wishes in the case before coming to his conclusion. 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,
Hochman told reporters outside a downtown courthouse. That means that the maximum sentence that Mr. Reiner will be looking at is life without the possibility of parole.
Weighing Family Wishes and State Policy
Prosecutors consulted with law enforcement and Nick Reiner’s siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner. We did speak with Nick Reiner’s siblings (and) they made their views very clear,
Hochman said. We took their views into consideration in ultimately deciding not to seek the death penalty.
The 33-year-old Reiner is accused of murdering his father, celebrated director and actor Rob Reiner, and mother, photographer and producer Michele Singer Reiner, nine months ago. Sources with direct knowledge indicated that Hochman and his team decided to remove the death penalty for several reasons, in no small part because Rob and Michele were against the death penalty. Before his death, Rob, who was a Democrat and outspoken about his views on politics, praised Erika Kirk for forgiving Tyler Robinson, the man who allegedly killed her husband, Charlie Kirk. Sources also noted another factor is that the case has been especially hard for Nick’s siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, who would have a hard time during sentencing if execution of their sibling were on the table. That said, Jake and Romy are not aligned at all with Nick, having already made a decision not to fund Nick’s defense. On top of all that, yet another factor in the decision was a 2019 order by Governor Gavin Newsom that halted the death penalty for 737 executions planned, with Newsom saying the death penalty was unevenly and unfairly applied to people of color, people with mental disabilities, and people who cannot afford costly legal representation. The last person executed on death row in California was in 2006, although people still have been sentenced to the death penalty in recent years.
The siblings also made their perspectives known regarding upcoming court records. The defendant’s siblings are opposed to unsealing grand jury transcripts. At a pre-trial hearing regarding whether to unseal grand jury indictment transcripts, Hochman shared statements on behalf of Jake and Romy Reiner, with the siblings requesting that the transcripts remain sealed to prevent further trauma.
Charges and Pre-Trial Court Proceedings
Nick Reiner was indicted by a Los Angeles County grand jury in July on two counts of first-degree murder stemming from the December 2025 fatal stabbings of his parents inside their L.A. home. He was first charged with first-degree murder last December, two days after the lethal attack on his parents in their Los Angeles home. Nick Reiner was charged with first-degree murder on Dec. 16, two days after the stunning killings of the couple, ages 78 and 70. In addition to the double murder charges, Reiner’s indictment includes special circumstances and special allegations that he was lying in wait, along with the use of a dangerous weapon, a knife. He has pleaded not guilty. Reiner, who turned 33 Monday, was clean-shaven with a full head of hair and wearing handcuffs Tuesday morning when he appeared in court. Nick Reiner has not entered a plea after two court hearings, but his former defense attorney Alan Jackson said adamantly shortly after resigning from the case that pursuant to the laws of California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder.
During the proceedings, Reiner agreed Tuesday to an indefinite delay for the start of the trial. No date for a trial has been scheduled, but Hochman said Tuesday he does not expect the case to go to trial before 2027, adding that the defense is reviewing discovery—the information exchanged by the two parties in a court case. More discovery is expected to be submitted in the coming weeks, he said, due to the volume of discovery.