Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Nick Reiner as they argue their case accusing him of killing his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner.
An Aug. 12 indictment from a Los Angeles grand jury in the case added an allegation that Nick Reiner was “lying in wait” before allegedly killing his parents. That “lying in wait” allegation, combined with the other murder charges facing Nick Reiner, made him eligible for the death penalty.
However, after mulling over whether to pursue capital punishment, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said his office would not pursue the death penalty in the case. Hochman said his office made the decision after “a rigorous review where we look at the aggravating factors as well as the mitigating factors.”
“We have spoken to the victims’ family, we have spoken to prosecutors, law enforcement, and have worked with the most senior people in the district attorney’s office,” Hochman said.
With capital punishment off the table, the maximum sentence Nick Reiner could face would be life in prison without parole, according to the prosecutor. The district attorney said they consulted with Nick Reiner’s siblings, the children of the two murder victims.
Jake Reiner, the eldest son of Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner, sat for an interview with ABC7 Los Angeles at the end of August, giving his family’s first public sit-down on how they have grieved since his parents’ deaths. He said that the time since his parents’ deaths has felt both like “eight years” and “eight minutes,” while eight months had passed at that point since their December 2025 killings.
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“It’s like I physically lost my parents, and then Nick was arrested, and it’s like now it’s just me and Romy,” Jake Reiner told the outlet, referring to the third Reiner sibling, Romy Reiner.
A date for the trial has yet to be set, but could be finalized during a hearing in the case on Tuesday.