Why Nick Reiner could face the death penalty

"Prosecutors can pursue death cases, and people can be sentenced to death. It's just that right now they're not being put to death."

"Prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and heart-wrenching cases that this office faces because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved,"

"The death penalty is still legal, and the moratorium doesn't mean that people can't be sentenced to death,"

Nick Reiner, 32, faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents. A typical first-degree murder conviction in California carries life with the possibility of parole after 25 years, but the Los Angeles County district attorney added a special-circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders. Special circumstances can raise a first-degree murder to punishments including the death penalty or life without parole and include killings for financial gain, of public officials, or involving torture. The district attorney has not decided whether to seek death and will consider the family's wishes. Governor Gavin Newsom's 2019 moratorium halted executions, but death sentences can still be imposed and 580 prisoners remain on death row.

Read at Boston.com