Prosecutors should not seek death sentence for Rob Reiner’s killer | Opinion

The murder of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, on Dec. 14 was an unspeakable tragedy. They died from what the Los Angeles County Coroner called “multiple sharp force injuries.” That language doesn’t capture the horror of being stabbed and bleeding to death.

But the horror didn’t end there. Add to it the fact that the couple was discovered by their daughter, Romy, and her roommate.

Making matters worse, her brother, Nick, who lives in a guest house adjacent to his parents’ home, was arrested soon after they were murdered.

What the Reiner family, the citizens of California and the rest of the country don’t need is to have to endure the prospect of Nick being subject to a capital prosecution. Parricide, if that is what indeed happened to the Reiners, surely is among the most shocking of crimes, but responding to it by putting the killer to death would just add horror to horror.

And, it is not what Rob Reiner, a long-time death penalty opponent, would want.

This is not to say that Nick— if convicted — does not deserve to be punished. But he should also be offered the help he needs to live out his time humanely.

Moreover, even if the prosecutor were to seek a death sentence, he is unlikely to succeed, given events occurring in the Golden State and across the country.

California’s latest embrace of the death penalty dates back almost 50 years, to 1977, when the legislature reinstated it. The next year, voters expanded the circumstances under which someone could get a death sentence.

On Dec. 16, Nick Reiner was formally charged with the murder of his parents. The charges referenced two special factors — multiple murders and the use of a dangerous weapon — that allow the prosecutor to bring a capital case.

In the background, we should recall that in 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions and subsequently closed the state’s death row. At the same time, prosecutors in a few California counties continue to seek death sentences, including district attorneys in Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and Kerr counties. Current Los Angeles County Prosecutor Nathan Hochman has joined that group.

During his successful campaign, Hochman said he would seek death sentences in “exceedingly rare” situations and the “most egregious” cases. He also said he would take the wishes of the family of a murder victim into consideration in deciding whether to bring any capital prosecution.

At this point, we don’t know what the Reiners’ children and other relatives might want.

In announcing the charges brought against Nick Reiner, Hochman acknowledged via an online statement that “Prosecuting cases involving family violence are some of the most challenging and heart-wrenching we face because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes.”

“Rob Reiner was one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation,” he wrote in the statement. “His murder and his wife of more than 35 years, Michele Singer Reiner’s murder, are shocking and tragic. We owe it to their memory to pursue justice and accountability for the lives that were taken.”

Of course, the question is whether justice and accountability require the death penalty in the Reiners’ case. And I believe the answer is no.

From what we now know, Nick Reiner was and is a very troubled person. He has a longstanding addiction to drugs, and, as an article in People magazine reports, “has been in and out of rehab over 18 times by the age of 22.”

In a 2026 interview, he described himself as having “no identity…and no passions.”

“I think the reason I had no identity was because I have a famous dad and a famous grandpa, and that fame sort of informs who you are,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “So I wanted to edge out my own identity with a more rebellious, angry, drug-addicted sort of persona.”

These factors would make a death penalty hard to obtain if Nick Reiner were to be convicted of a capital crime. Adding to that is the fact that his lawyer, Alan Jackson, is experienced and highly capable.

If the case goes to a jury, he will make the kind of compelling mitigation case that juries are increasingly finding persuasive, painting Nick Reiner as, if not sympathetic, at least not the kind of diabolical person for whom jurors might think that the death penalty is appropriate.

We know it is harder than ever for prosecutors to convince juries to hand down death sentences. This year, more often than not, U.S. juries refused to deliver death sentences when they had the opportunities to do so.

And when lawyers like Jackson are involved, they are even less likely to vote to sentence someone to death.

As hard as it may be, the LA County DA needs to say no to capital punishment in Nick Reiner’s case. Doing so will save his constituents’ tax dollars yet still afford him the opportunity to achieve the kind of justice that will honor the memory of Nick’s parents.

Austin Sarat is the William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College.