LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Nick Reiner, charged with murder in the killings of his parents Rob and Michelle Reiner, after consulting with the victims’ loved ones, officials said Tuesday.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said 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.”
The DA didn’t disclose what punishment the family had sought, though the victims were both well known death penalty abolitionists.
“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.
Rob Reiner, Michele Singer and Nick Reiner in 2013.Michael Buckner / Getty Images for Teen Vogue file
The younger Reiner has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder stemming from the December 2025 fatal stabbings of his parents inside their L.A. home.
The defendant’s siblings are opposed to unsealing grand jury transcripts, according to Hochman.
“They have expressed a strong desire for these transcripts to remain sealed,” the DA said. “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.”
The DA’s office does not have a stance on that issue — but concedes that disclosure of grand jury records will not harm either side of the case, Hochman said.
“We do not believe that unsealing the transcripts will cause such prejudice (to either side),” Hochman said. “However, we have deferred to the court the decision on this ruling of whether or not the transcript should be unsealed.”
Shortly after the press conference, Reiner appeared for a brief pre-trial hearing before L.A. County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta.
Prosecutors formally told the court that they won’t be seeking capital punishment in this case. Deputy DA Habib Balian said defense lawyers will soon receive that determination in writing.
“A letter is forthcoming, your honor,” Balian told the court.
The defendant had a considerably different look on Tuesday compared to previous appearances — clean shaven and with a full head of hair.
Reiner, wearing brown jail jump suit with a long white tee underneath, appeared to be focused and listened carefully to the judge and lawyers, in contrast to previous hearings when he’d fidget and squirm.
Judge Ohta asked the news media companies, represented in court on Tuesday, to file their likely opposition to the family’s desire to seal grand jury transcripts by Sept. 22.
Both sides were ordered to return to court on Oct. 7 to set schedule for arguments on the grand jury transcripts and other pre-trial issues.
Judge Ohta asked Reiner if he agreed to waive his right to a speedy trial and the defendant said “yes.”
It’s been nine months and a day since the slayings were uncovered shortly after a massage therapist had come to the Reiner family home for a scheduled appointment.
No one answered the door on that Dec. 14 so the therapist contacted the couple’s daughter and Brentwood neighbor, Romy Reiner, officials said.
The daughter then came to her parents’ house to find her father’s bloodied body. First responders rushed to the house and found both slain parents inside.
Nick Reiner was arrested later that evening after police spotted him strolling near the University of Southern California, about 13 miles from the crime scene.
Madeline Morrison reported from Los Angeles and David K. Li from New York City.