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Nick Reiner’s double-murder case is on hold until the New Year after a judge said he would not let the introduction of new evidence interrupt his vacation.
Reiner’s defense team asked in court on Wednesday to present additional evidence relating to the unsealing of grand jury transcripts.
Defense attorney Kimberly Greene said she plans to provide evidence relating to media coverage of the high-profile case and the effect it could have on the trial, but that “it will take time.”
Judge Sam Ohta made it clear that he would not let the filing, which Greene said would take until the end of December to complete, get in the way of his vacation.
“I’m going on vacation and I don’t want to read the brief while I’m doing that,” Ohta said as Reiner looked on shackled and in a brown jumpsuit, at times rocking back and forth in his chair as he looked straight ahead at the judge.
Ohta said that a hearing would be set for January 13 on the unsealing. The defense has argued it doesn’t want the transcripts made public, while attorneys for the media are arguing for their unsealing.
Reiner is accused of murdering his parents, Hollywood director Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele, 70, inside their Brentwood home on December 14, 2025.
The 33-year-old was indicted for the murders with a disturbing special circumstance added on August 12.
He pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder after the grand jury indictment against him was unsealed.
He also faces special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of lying in wait, as well as an allegation that he personally used a knife as a deadly weapon.
The indictment also alleges the crime “involved great violence, great bodily harm, threat of great bodily harm, or other acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty, viciousness, or callousness,” and called the victims “particularly vulnerable.”
“This was a profound betrayal by someone who was loved and trusted by the very people he is accused of killing,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.
A grand jury indictment allows the case to proceed to trial more quickly.
Prosecutors have taken the death penalty off the table for the alleged killings in part because of the views of Rob and Michele Reiner, who both were against capital punishment.
The accused killer’s siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, also would have had a difficult time coping with potentially playing a role in executing their brother.
“We did speak with Nick Reiner’s siblings, they made their views very clear. We took their views into consideration and ultimately decided not to seek the death penalty,” Hochman said.
In other proceedings, Reiner is fighting for trust money he claims is owed to him to help with his defense.
There’s a hearing in that matter on Friday.