Nick Reiner Makes First Court Appearance On Charges He Killed His Parents

LOS ANGELES, CA — Nick Reiner made his first court appearance Wednesday on two murder charges stemming from the stabbing deaths of his parents, filmmaker Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

Riner is charged with two counts of first degree murder with the special circumstance of multiple murders, as well as an additional special allegation that Reiner used a dangerous and deadly weapon in the crimes: a knife, according to prosecutors.

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.

His arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7 at his attorney's request. He spoke only to say 'yes, your honor' to agree to the date.

His lawyer, Alan Jackson, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing.

"First of all, and most importantly, this is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family ... Our hearts go out to the entire Reiner family," he said.

Jackson said there are some "very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case," explaining that they "need to be thoroughly but very carefully dealt with and examined and looked it and analyzed."

"We ask that during this process you allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to, not with a rush to judgment, not with jumping to conclusions, but with restraint and with dignity and with the respect that this system and this process deserves and the family deserves," he added.

Read Patch's latest coverage of the Riner killings

Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial. He secured a murder acquittal for Karen Read in her closely followed retrial in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.

Jackson has also represented the man accused of murder in the 2023 deaths of four Pepperdine University students killed in a crash on Pacific Coast Highway.

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.

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.