Rob Reiner’s Son Nick Due Back in Court in Parents’ Killings

Nick Reiner is due in court Tuesday to face murder charges in the deaths of his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Singer Reiner.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman is expected to announce new case developments at a news conference outside the Los Angeles courthouse shortly before Reiner’s scheduled pretrial appearance.

The judge could also set a trial date during Tuesday’s hearing.

Reiner, 33, has remained jailed without bail since December on two murder counts.

Authorities say Rob Reiner, the acclaimed film director, and Michele Reiner were fatally stabbed at their home in Los Angeles’ affluent Brentwood neighborhood on Dec. 14. Their son was arrested within hours of the killings and formally charged two days later.

A grand jury indictment unsealed last month added an allegation that Reiner lay in wait before the killings. He has entered not guilty pleas to every charge filed against him.

The indictment moves the case significantly closer to trial, allowing prosecutors to bypass California’s preliminary hearing process, which typically brings evidence into public view.

Under California law, an allegation of lying in wait asserts that a suspect concealed themselves or waited for victims in order to carry out an ambush, a claim prosecutors use to establish premeditation. If a jury finds Reiner guilty of murder and finds the lying-in-wait allegation true, he could become eligible for the death penalty. Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will pursue that punishment.

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“This case is absolutely headed for trial,” legal expert Neama Rahmani said. “I think there’s no world where Nathan Hochman and the district attorney’s office offers any type of discount. This is a potential death penalty case.”

Reiner is represented by a public defender and is seeking access to more than $500,000 that he says is owed to him through a trust fund. He has said he wants to use the money to pay for his defense.

Just last month, Nick’s older brother, Jake Reiner, spoke exclusively to ABC7 in his first sit-down interview since his parents were killed.

He talked about the night of his parent’s killings, his brother’s arrest, his parent’s humanitarian work and how he’s been trying to move forward since the tragedy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.