Nick Reiner murder case delayed until September, autopsy reports still not prepared

The murder case against Nick Reiner will not proceed until September, in part due to delays in the production of reports detailing the autopsies of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, officials said in court Wednesday.

Reiner, 32, was charged with killing his parents inside the master bedroom of the family’s Brentwood estate last December. Rob and Michele were found stabbed to death on Dec. 14, and their son was arrested in Exposition Park roughly 12 hours later.

During a brief hearing in downtown L.A. on Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Chung said prosecutors still have nearly two terabytes of discovery to provide to the defense. Chung said autopsy reports in the case had yet to be completed.

It was not clear why the reports had yet to be completed more than four months after the killings. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined to comment outside the courtroom.

Reiner appeared wearing a yellow jail jumper with his hair cut short. He barely spoke during the hearing other than to answer “yes” to a few questions from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta.

A motive in the slayings has not been made public, though Reiner had spoken publicly about his struggles with mental health and addiction. The father and son worked together to create the 2015 film “Being Charlie,” in which characters that were thinly veiled versions of Rob and Nick explored how drugs could damage a relationship between a successful actor and his privileged son who was in the throes of addiction.

Nick Reiner pleaded not guilty in February, but his case has otherwise been stalled by procedural delays.

High-profile defense attorney Alan Jackson dropped out of the case earlier this year, and has yet to publicly explain why. Reiner is now represented by the Los Angeles County public defender’s office, which has not said how or if its client’s mental health and addiction struggles will factor into the defense.

Prosecutors charged Reiner with murder with special circumstances, so he could face the death penalty if convicted at trial. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman has not said when prosecutors will make a decision about seeking capital punishment.

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