According to an Associated Press report on the arraignment, Reiner, 32, appeared behind glass in a packed Los Angeles courtroom and waived his right to move quickly to the next stage of the case. A separate CBS News report on the hearing said the April 29 appearance will advance the preliminary-hearing process, while local coverage from NBC Los Angeles detailed the special-circumstance allegations that prosecutors say could expose him to either life without parole or the death penalty if convicted.
Nick Reiner case timeline before the not-guilty plea
The case has moved in a steady, highly public sequence since mid-December. In an official Dec. 15 arrest announcement, the Los Angeles Police Department said officers responding to a death investigation at the family’s Brentwood home found Rob and Michele Reiner dead and arrested Nick Reiner later that evening.
On Dec. 16, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Nick Reiner was charged with two counts of murder, along with a special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders and a separate allegation that he used a knife. Prosecutors said then that a decision on whether to seek the death penalty would come later.
The path to Monday’s plea was not direct. Reuters reported on Jan. 7 that the arraignment was postponed after defense attorney Alan Jackson withdrew and public defenders stepped in, leaving the court to reset the case before any plea was entered.
What happens next for Nick Reiner
Monday’s hearing did not address motive or trial evidence in detail. Instead, it formalized the defense position and kept the case on course for a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will have to show enough evidence to justify sending the matter to trial. Reiner remains in custody without bail.
The legal stakes remain unusually high even by Los Angeles homicide standards. Prosecutors have already alleged multiple killings and the use of a deadly weapon, and they have not ruled out capital punishment. That decision is still under internal review, which means the next major turning point may come not only from the courtroom calendar but also from the district attorney’s charging strategy.
For now, the public picture is narrow but significant: Nick Reiner has entered a not-guilty plea, the court has kept him jailed, and the case is moving from the shock of arrest into the slower, evidence-testing phase that will determine whether one of the region’s most closely watched murder prosecutions heads to trial.
