The murder case against Nick Renner will not proceed until September because of delays in submitting an autopsy report detailing the autopsy to his parents, Rob and Michelle Renner, authorities said in court Wednesday.
Renner, 32, was accused of killing his parents inside the master bedroom of the family’s Brentwood estate last December. Rob and Michelle were stabbed to death on December 14 and their son was arrested in Exposition Park about 12 hours later.
During a brief hearing in Downtown L.A. on Wednesday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Chung said prosecutors still have about two terabytes of discovery to provide to the defense. Chung said the autopsy report in the case has not yet been completed.
It was unclear why the report had not yet been completed, more than four months after the killings. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment outside the courtroom.
Rainer was seen wearing a yellow prison jumper and had short hair. He barely spoke during the hearing except to answer “yes” to a few questions from Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta.
The motive for the murders has not been made public, although Renner had spoken publicly about his struggles with mental health and addiction. Father and son worked together to create the 2015 film “Being Charlie”, in which characters played by on-screen versions of Rob and Nick explored how drugs can damage the relationship between a successful actor and his privileged son who was addicted.
Nick Renner pleaded not guilty in February, but his case is otherwise stalled due to procedural delays.
High-profile defense attorney Alan Jackson dropped out of the case earlier this year, and he has yet to publicly explain why. Renner is now represented by the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, which has not said how or what role their client’s mental health and addiction struggles will play in his defense.
Prosecutors charged Rainer with murder under special circumstances, so that he could face the death penalty if convicted at trial. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman has not said when prosecutors will decide whether to seek the death penalty.
