Nick Reiner, the youngest son of the Hollywood director Rob and Michele Singer Reiner, pleaded not guilty on Monday in the murder of his parents, more than two months after they were discovered stabbed to death inside their Los Angeles home.
With the plea, lawyers for Mr. Reiner dealt with what was essentially a legal formality and moved further discussion of their client’s defense into the future. It is not uncommon for lawyers to enter a not guilty plea initially only to modify it later. The entire proceeding on Monday took only minutes.
Mr. Reiner was charged in December with two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents, who were found in their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The counts carry what are known as “special circumstances” that could add time to a sentence if Mr. Reiner is convicted. He faces the possibility of life in prison without a chance at parole or the death penalty, although prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the latter.
During Mr. Reiner’s first appearance in court, on Dec. 17, Mr. Jackson agreed to delay the arraignment, telling reporters outside the courtroom that there were “very complex and serious issues associated with this case” that needed to be examined.
But at Mr. Reiner’s next court appearance, the hearing in January, Mr. Jackson removed himself as counsel, saying only that he and his team felt they had “no choice” but to withdraw from the case because of circumstances beyond his control. Judge McGonigle then assigned the case to Ms. Greene.
Prosecutors and the police have so far provided few details about what they believe led to the murders and what a motive might be. The judge has issued a protective order, barring prosecutors or defense lawyers from publicly releasing any discovery materials.
The New York Times has reported that Mr. Reiner has a serious mental illness. He has been diagnosed at different times with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, and was placed into a yearlong mental health conservatorship in 2020, underscoring the severity of the mental health challenges he faced in recent years, according to people familiar with the situation. One of those people told The Times that Mr. Reiner had been struggling in the weeks before his arrest with a change in his medication.
In announcing the murder charges last year, Nathan J. Hochman, the Los Angeles County district attorney, told reporters that the case would be particularly difficult to prosecute because of the intimacy between the victims and the accused.
“These cases, involving family members, are some of the most challenging and most heart-wrenching cases that our office faces,” Mr. Hochman said at the time.
Tim Arango contributed reporting.
Jill Cowan is a Times reporter based in Los Angeles, covering the forces shaping life in Southern California and throughout the state.
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