Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner made his first court appearance Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the alleged killing of his parents.
The 32-year-old did not enter a plea as he appeared from behind the glass wall of a custody area. He was in shackles and wearing a jail suicide prevention smock.
Reiner’s arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7 at his lawyer’s request. He spoke only to say “yes, your honour” to agree to the date.
After the hearing, Nick Reiner’s attorney Alan Jackson called the case “a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family.” He said the proceedings will be very complex.
“And we ask that during this process you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward,” Jackson said outside the courthouse. “Not with a rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions.”
Jackson declined to answer shouted questions from dozens of reporters surrounding him.
Nick Reiner was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, law enforcement officials announced yesterday at a news conference.
“Their loss is beyond tragic and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a news conference on Tuesday with L.A. Police Chief Jim McDonnell.
Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added special circumstances of multiple murders and a special allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife.
Hochman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case. Reiner is currently being held without bail.
“This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones but for our entire city,” McDonnell said.
The announcement came after the couple was found dead on Sunday from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood on the west side of Los Angeles.
Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later in the city’s Exposition Park area, near the University of Southern California, about 22 kilometers from the crime scene, police said.
For The National, CBC’s Eli Glasner looks back on the big moments in Rob Reiner’s filmmaking career, including the real-life Hollywood love story that prompted the director to change the ending of When Harry Met Sally. [Correction: This video has been re-edited to correct the release dates of Rob Reiner’s films When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride.]
Rob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom All in the Family who went on to direct films including When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride. He was an outspoken liberal activist for decades.
Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer, movie producer and advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ rights. They had been married for 36 years.
Several of those closest to them, including actors Billy Crystal, Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David, released a statement mourning and celebrating the couple on Tuesday night.
“They were a special force together — dynamic, unselfish and inspiring,” the statement said. “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”
Nick Reiner had been scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Tuesday, but his lawyer, said he was not brought from the jail to the courthouse for medical reasons and the appearance was postponed to Wednesday.
Jackson is a high-profile defence attorney and former L.A. County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.
On the other side will be Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.
Authorities haven’t said anything about a motive for the killings and would give few details when asked at the news conference.
