By Steve Gorman and Jane Ross
LOS ANGELES, Dec 17 (Reuters) – The younger son of Hollywood filmmaker and political activist Rob Reiner made his first court appearance on Wednesday, charged with double murder in the stabbing deaths of his parents, but the arraignment was postponed for three weeks, and he did not enter a plea.
Nick Reiner, 32, was ordered to return to Los Angeles County Superior Court for a continuation of his arraignment on January 7. No explanation was given in court for the delay in the hearing.
Bearded, wearing eyeglasses and garbed in a blue protective vest, he appeared in court three days after his arrest and a day after he was charged with one of the most shocking celebrity homicide cases in the city’s history.
He is accused of fatally stabbing his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner, 78, and photographer-producer Michele Reiner, 70, in the early morning hours of Sunday in the couple’s mansion in the affluent west LA neighborhood of Brentwood, then fleeing the scene.
The couple’s bodies were discovered Sunday afternoon. Nick Reiner, who has publicly acknowledged a years-long struggle with drug addiction, was arrested that night near a downtown Los Angeles park close to the University of Southern California campus.
‘DEVASTATING TRAGEDY’
Seated slightly slouched behind a glass partition in the courtroom, the defendant spoke little during his few minutes in court, saying only, “Yes, your honor,” in a calm, clear voice when asked by the judge if he agreed to waive his right to a speedy arraignment.
Speaking briefly to reporters outside the courthouse afterward, defense attorney Alan Jackson offered no additional insight, saying the proceedings were merely being paused.
“Today we’re going to rest on where we stand procedurally, which is, this was a continuance of arraignment. Nothing happened today, substantively,” he said.
“This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family” Jackson added. “There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case. Those need to be thoroughly, but very carefully dealt with and examined.”
Authorities said Nick Reiner was taken into custody without incident on Sunday night, and was booked on suspicion of murder into a downtown jail, where he remains held with bond. According various news media reports, he had lived in a guest house on his parents’ property.
If convicted as charged on two counts of first degree murder, he would face life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman has said prosecutors have yet to decide whether to seek the death sentence.
Capital punishment remains on the books in California, but nobody has been put to death in the state since 2006, and Governor Gavin Newsom imposed an indefinite moratorium on executions in 2019.
According to prosecutors, a knife was used in the Reiner killings, but few other details were given about the circumstances of the slayings. Authorities have made no mention of a possible motive or whether drug use was a factor.
Various news media outlets have reported that Nick Reiner quarreled with his parents on Saturday night at a holiday party hosted by comedian Conan O’Brien.
Asked whether investigators had recovered the murder weapon, Hochman said on Tuesday that would be revealed in court. Autopsies, once completed, will determine the precise cause, manner and times of death, officials said.
Nick Reiner, the younger of the couple’s two sons and their middle child, has spoken of being in and out of drug rehab facilities since he was 15 and periods of homelessness that occurred when he refused to seek treatment for his addictions. Those experiences inspired the movie “Being Charlie,” co-written by Reiner and his father.
As an actor, Rob Reiner was best remembered for his role on the TV comedy “All in the Family” as Mike “Meathead” Stivic, the son-in-law and liberal foil of the lead character, working-class bigot Archie Bunker, played by Carroll O’Connor.
Reiner went on to a prolific Hollywood career as a filmmaker, directing such popular movies as “This Is Spinal Tap,” “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “Stand by Me,” “A Few Good Men,” “Misery” and “The American President.”
His final film, a sequel to the mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” was released this year, 41 years after the original.
His wife, Michele, was at one time a photographer who captured the image of Donald Trump that appears on the cover of his book “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” She and Rob Reiner met while he was directing “When Harry Met Sally” and wed in 1989.
Rob Reiner, a native of New York City and son of the late comedy writer and actor Carl Reiner, also was well known for his political activism and as a supporter of the Democratic Party.
He was first married to Penny Marshall, who starred in the TV sitcom “Laverne & Shirley,” and was also a producer and director. He was the adoptive father to Marshall’s daughter.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman and Jane Ross in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Rich McKay and Brad Brooks; Editing by David Gregorio)
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