Nick Reiner will not face the death penalty if convicted at trial, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
The decision means that if Reiner is found guilty of the killings of his parents, the celebrated Hollywood director Rob Reiner and the photographer and philanthropist Michele Reiner, the maximum sentence he could face would be life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“After a careful review of the case, the people are announcing we are not seeking the death penalty in this particular case,” Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said at a morning hearing in downtown Los Angeles.
Nick Reiner appeared at the hearing in a brown jail uniform and was shackled to his chair. During the brief appearance, he answered yes to several questions from Judge Sam Ohta and broadly waived his right to a speedy trial. His next court hearing was set for Oct. 7.
A grand jury recently indicted Reiner on two counts of first-degree murder with the new special circumstance allegation that he committed the murders by means of lying in wait. He also faces a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.
Reiner has pleaded not guilty to killing his parents on Dec. 14, 2025, inside the family’s Brentwood home. His sister, Romy, discovered the bodies and later testified before the grand jury. His older brother, Jake Reiner, also testified, according to court records.
L.A. County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman cited the siblings Tuesday when he announced that prosecutors would not oppose a defence request that the grand jury transcripts remain sealed. He said Jake and Romy Reiner said public disclosure of the details and evidence of the killing of their parents “will cause them additional trauma and harm, and they have respectfully asked for the court to keep the transcripts sealed.”
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Judge Ohta said Tuesday that media organisations seeking release of the transcripts must file a motion opposing their continued sealing by Sept. 30. Nick Reiner was represented Tuesday by Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Lyn Greene. His older siblings did not attend the hearing.
Nick Reiner was previously represented by the prominent defence lawyer Alan Jackson, who revealed in probate court filings that the older siblings initially agreed to hire him and pay for his services. The siblings later withdrew as third-party payors, Jackson said, prompting him to step down. The move left Nick to seek access to part of his $1.7 million trust fund in hopes of hiring Jackson again.
“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” L.A. County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said last month. “We hope that by having a grand jury return an indictment in this case, it will bring us one step closer to a trial and achieving justice.”
The night before Rob and Michele were found dead, they attended a holiday party at comedian Conan O’Brien’s home attended by a host of A-list names, including close Reiner family friend Billy Crystal. Sources previously told Rolling Stone that Nick Reiner attended the party with his parents and appeared to exhibit antisocial behaviour.
Nick was arrested Dec. 14, 2025, just hours after his parents’ bodies were found dead in the primary bedroom of their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles, police said. Rob Reiner, who acted in the groundbreaking sitcom All in the Family before directing the hit movies This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, and The Princess Bride, and Michele Reiner, who met her husband on the set of his classic comedy When Harry Met Sally, died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” the county medical examiner said. Nick was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with prosecutors identifying the alleged murder weapon as a knife.
After the slayings, Nick’s struggles with mental health and drug addiction made headlines. Four days after the arrest, sources confirmed to Rolling Stone that Nick had been treated for schizophrenia before the shocking double homicide. A source later told The New York Times that Nick also had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a condition that combines psychotic symptoms, like schizophrenia, with mood issues, such as depression or mania.
Sources reportedly told The Times that Nick had been placed in a confidential conservatorship in 2020. The newspaper further reported Nick had been on psychiatric medication as part of his treatment and that the medication appeared to be working, but that side effects led him to switch to something different about a month before his parents were killed.
A spokesperson for Nick’s sister and brother said the family had no immediate comment on the indictment.
From Rolling Stone US
