Nick Reiner entered a plea of not guilty during his third appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court for his scheduled arraignment in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
The 32-year-old faces two counts of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders.
Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said his office is still awaiting a full autopsy report in the case, but all other evidence has been turned over to the defence.
Reiner appeared in court in an enclosed custody area with his head shaved and wearing brown jail clothes. He talked to his lawyer briefly before the judge began the brief hearing. He spoke only to answer yes to a question from the judge.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman spoke to reporters outside the courthouse following Reiner’s hearing.
“The case is on track. We have provided the bulk of discovery to defence council and we are now waiting for the coroner’s report,” he said.
“This case is a death penalty-eligible case. Along those lines we take the process in which we determine whether or not the death penalty should be sought extremely seriously and it goes through a very rigorous process,” Hochman added.
“We have invited defence counsel to present to us — both in writing and orally — in a meeting, any arguments that they would like to make in consideration for our going forward or not going forward with the death penalty,” Hochman said.
Hochman did not take questions after sharing his statement outside the courthouse. A preliminary hearing has been set for April 29.
Reiner was set to enter a plea last month at a hearing in Los Angeles, before his defence attorney, Alan Jackson, announced that he was withdrawing from the case, and Reiner will now be represented by public defender Kimberly Greene.
“This morning I had to withdraw as Nick Reiner’s counsel. Circumstances beyond our control but more importantly circumstances beyond Nick’s control have dictated that sadly it’s made it impossible for us to continue our representation,” Jackson told reporters outside the courthouse in January.
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“I’m legally and ethically prohibited from explaining all the reasons why. I know that’s a question on everybody’s mind. We expect the public defender to step in. They’ve already been appointed and very capably protect Nick Reiner’s interests as he moves forward through the system,” he added.
“Be very, very clear about this — my team and I remain deeply, deeply committed to Nick Reiner and to his best interests,” Jackson said. “In fact we know, we’re not just convinced, we know that the legal process will reveal the true facts of the circumstances surrounding this case.”
“What we’ve learned — and you can take this to the bank — is that pursuant to the law in this state, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder. Print that,” Jackson added.
Following the news, Reiner’s family told the New York Times in a statement that they “have the utmost trust in the legal process and will not comment further on matters related to the legal proceedings.”
Reiner’s 78-year-old father and 70-year-old mother were found dead with stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Dec. 14, 2025, authorities said.
The LA County Medical Examiner said in initial findings that they died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” but released no other details, and police have said nothing about possible motives.
Nick Reiner was arrested hours later and has been held without bail since. He was charged two days later with two counts of first-degree murder.
Hours before the filmmaker and his wife were found dead they had attended Conan O’Brien’s holiday party with their son Nick.
O’Brien recently broke his silence on the deaths of Michele and Rob during an interview with The New Yorker.
“I knew Rob and Michele, and then increasingly got closer and closer to them,” O’Brien said.
“They were just such lovely people,” he said of Rob and Michele. “And to have that experience of saying good night to somebody and having them leave and then find out the next day that they’re gone…. I think I was in shock for quite a while afterward. I mean, there’s no other word for it.”
“It’s just so awful,” O’Brien said of the deaths of Rob and Michele. “And I think about how Rob felt about things that are happening in the country, how involved he was, how much he put himself out there—and to have that voice go quiet in an instant is still hard for me to comprehend.”
Reiner did not enter a plea during a brief first court appearance on Dec. 17. Jackson told the court it was “too early” to enter a plea and that he had already agreed with the prosecution to delay the arraignment until January.
Reiner also faces a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, that being a knife, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference on Dec. 16.
These charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. No decision about the death penalty has been made as of yet, Hochman added.
“Charges are not evidence,” Hochman said. “Evidence is something we will be presenting in a court of law to meet the standard of proof we meet at every criminal case, which is beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and most heart-wrenching cases that this office faces because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved.”
Prosecutors have said they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.
— With files from The Associated Press
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