A state judge today pushed proceedings in Nick Reiner’s case for the stabbing deaths of his parents Rob and Michele Reiner to the fall as prosecutors and public defenders continue to collect more evidence.
Along with more than two terabytes of data to go through, the evidence that still remains includes autopsy reports on the 78-year-old A Few Good Men director and the 68-year-old photographer, the L.A. County District Attorney’ office said Wednesday in L.A. Superior Court. The elder Reiners were discovered dead in their Brentwood home on December 14.
LAPD officers keep watch near Rob and Michele Reiner’s home on December 14 after the couple’s bodies were discovered on the premises
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The Medical Examiner’s findings on the Reiners were initially released late last year and then suddenly sealed on December 29 after a request from the LAPD.
Acknowledging “the causes of death of Mr and Mrs Reiner have already been made public,” the cops stated at the time that “the order was sought only to ensure detectives from Robbery-Homicide Division learned of important information surrounding their deaths before the media and the public.”
Represented by a team led by public defender Kimberly Greene, the 32-year-old youngest son of photographer faces life behind bars or the death penalty. Nick Reiner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with “special circumstances.” In his previous court appearance at downtown L.A.’s Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in late February, Reiner entered a not guilty plea.
As of right now, the next hearing for the younger Reiner, who was in court this morning, is set for September 15. Among the blank-faced Reiner’s few words in court during the short hearing were an “uh, yeah,” when he was asked by LASC Judge Sam Ohta if he would waive a future preliminary hearing date.
Since unveiling the charges late last year, L.A. County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has not revealed if his office will seek Reiner’s execution – as the “special circumstances” designation permits under California law.
Expected to speak outside the courthouse Wednesday morning, the DA has stated over and over that he will consult the family before making a final decision to move forward with the rare use of California’s death penalty. Nick Reiner’s relatives, especially oldest brother Jake and sisters Romy and Tracy (the latter is the adopted daughter from Reiner’s first marriage to Penny Marshall) are not in favor of the death penalty in this matter, sources tell me.
Being Charlie co-writer Nick Reiner has been in custody without bail since the first night of Hanukkah last year.
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The younger Reiner was picked up by the LAPD mere hours after Remy Reiner discovered their parents’ maimed bodies at the family’s West L.A. home. Nick Reiner had been living in the guest house on his parents’ property for a while before the tragedy. Having struggled with addiction and mental health issues for years, Nick Reiner was under a court-approved conservatorship from 2020-21.
Reiner’s pretrial hearing was supposed to begin around 8:30 am PT this morning, with a overflow room, but was delayed. When it finally started, things took a very different turn than expected as discovery, or rather the lack thereof, became the focus.
Reiner’s hearing in DTLA is on the same day and in the same building that will see singer D4vd, who is accused of murdering teenager Celeste Rivas Hernandez last year, before a judge in a status session of his own. D4vd, whose real name is David Burke, entered a not guilty plea on April 20. Today’s hearing will determine whether the “Romantic Homicide” singer’s case moves forward to trial and possible death penalty punishment if he is found guilty.
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In terms of the Reiner family tragedy, oldest son Jake took to Substack last week to detail some of his reactions to his parents’ deaths, allegedly at the hands of his own brother.
Jake Reiner wrote that nothing “can prepare you for what it feels like to lose both parents instantly at the same time. It’s too devastating to comprehend. I still wake up every morning having to convince myself that, no, it’s not a dream. This truly is my living nightmare.”
Terrified by “how frightened they must have been,” the son added of his parents: “They were the last people in the world to deserve what happened to them. They deserved to be loved, they deserved to be respected, and above all, they deserved to be appreciated for how much they gave to all three of us and to the world.”