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Criminal

Sep. 16, 2026

Death penalty persists in California despite Reiner decision

Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to seek death against Nick Reiner, but attorneys say capital punishment remains legally viable in California, where prosecutors in some counties continue to pursue and obtain death sentences even as executions remain frozen.

Death penalty persists in California despite Reiner decision
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman

Reports of California's death penalty's demise may still be premature.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman declined Monday to seek death against Nick Reiner, but prosecutors elsewhere continue to pursue -- and win -- death sentences even as executions remain frozen.

Robert Brown, an assistant district attorney in San Bernardino County, said the decision in a single Los Angeles case says little about capital punishment statewide because death-penalt...

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