Son of Director Rob Reiner Faces Pretrial Hearing as Death Penalty Is Considered

Nick Reiner, the son of filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner, was brought before a downtown Los Angeles judge for a pretrial hearing following a grand-jury indictment that accuses him of stabbing both parents to death in their Brentwood residence. The indictment, which bypasses a preliminary hearing, includes two murder counts with special circumstances, citing premeditation, extreme violence and cruelty.

Judge Sam Ohta conditionally sealed the grand-jury transcripts after the victims' surviving children, Jake and Romy Reiner, asked that they remain private. District Attorney Nathan Hochman described the killings as a profound betrayal and indicated his office is evaluating a death-penalty request. Reiner, arrested near USC hours after his sister discovered the scene, is held without bail, and his lawyers are fighting for access to a $1.5 million trust fund, which may be barred by California’s slayer statute.