Prosecutorial Charging & Penalty Decision Workbench

Case Brief & Statutory Allegations

BA518920-01

Defendant: Nick Reiner

Victims: Rob Reiner & Michele Singer Reiner

Jurisdiction: LA Superior Court (Van Nuys)

Lead Charge: PC § 187(a) (Two Counts First-Degree Murder)

Special Circumstances (Penal Code § 190.2 Allegations) 2 Alleged

PC § 190.2(a)(3) Multiple Murder Allegation

Homicide of more than one person in the first or second degree.

PC § 190.2(a)(15) Lying in Wait / Concealment

Perpetrated by means of concealment, waiting for advantageous moment.

PC § 190.2(a)(1) Financial Gain / Estate Expediency

Murder intentionally carried out for direct inheritance or financial benefit.

Surviving Siblings Consultation & Non-Seeking Request 100% (Unanimous Waive Request)

LA DA policy mandates formal conference with direct surviving family members (Marsy’s Law / Special Directive 20-07). Sibling opposition creates near-dispositive presumption against seeking capital punishment.

            0% (Demand Death Penalty)
            50% (Split View)
            100% (Consensus to Waive Death)
          

Defense Mitigating Factors Under Penal Code § 190.3

Documented Psychiatric History & Substance Addiction

Chronic impairment mitigating against maximum statutory culpability.

Defendant Willingness to Plead to Consecutive LWOP

Avoids protracted trial, spare family appellate ordeal for decades.

California Legal Framework: Governor’s Executive Moratorium (Order N-09-19) suspends lethal injections, while DA charging elections determine whether capital trials or two consecutive terms of Life Without Parole (LWOP) proceed to trial under § 190.2.

Statutory Outcome & Prosecutorial Memo

DEATH PENALTY WAIVED

Projected Disposition Probability Matrix LWOP: 96% | Death: 4% | Determinate: 0%

LWOP (96%)

DP (4%)

TERM

ELECTED PATHWAY

2x LWOP

CAPITAL STATUS

Not Seeking

FAMILY POSITION

Unanimous LWOP

OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY • COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES FORM DA-CR-190

MEMORANDUM OF PROSECUTORIAL CHARGING INTENT & PENALTY DISCRETION

RE: People of the State of California v. Nick Reiner | Case No. BA518920-01
CHARGES: 2 Counts Murder (PC § 187(a)) with Special Circumstances

Following formal case review and conferences conducted under victim consultation protocols with the surviving siblings of victims Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, the Special Circumstances Committee and District Attorney have determined that the People of the State of California will NOT SEEK THE DEATH PENALTY against defendant Nick Reiner. The People will proceed on all special circumstance counts seeking consecutive statutory terms of Life Imprisonment Without Possibility of Parole (LWOP) under California Penal Code § 190.2.

Primary Determinate Factors:

Surviving sibling consensus formally requesting waiver of capital proceedings.
Two statutory special circumstances verified under PC § 190.2(a)(3) and § 190.2(a)(15).
Mitigating psychiatric history and willingness to serve consecutive LWOP terms.

Ready to export

Statutory Authority: Cal. Penal Code §§ 187, 190.2, 190.3, 190.4; Cal. Const. Art. I, § 28(b) (Marsy's Law); LA County DA Special Directive 20-07. Source grounded in Wall Street Journal reporting on LA DA charging election in People v. Nick Reiner.