Nick Reiner’s attorney withdraws, plea postponed in parents’ murder case
Nick Reiner’s high-profile attorney, Alan Jackson, withdrew from the case Wednesday, during a court hearing where Reiner had been expected to enter a plea for two first-degree murder charges in the fatal stabbing of his parents, the renowned filmmaker Rob Reiner, 78, and photographer Michele Singer Reiner, 70.
Nick Reiner’s arraignment has instead been postponed until Feb. 23, while a public defender, Kimberly Greene, takes over his case.
Jackson, a defense attorney who previously represented Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, didn’t immediately give a reason for his exit. He asked to be removed from the case based on discussions with Reiner and a matter discussed privately in the judge’s chambers.
He didn’t immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
Reiner, 32, was arrested Dec. 14 near the University of Southern California campus, hours after police found his parents’ stabbed bodies in the main bedroom of their home in Los Angeles. He is being held in Twin Towers Correctional Facility without bail.
The Los Angeles County district attorney charged him two days later. If convicted, Reiner could face up to life in prison without parole or the death penalty, although no decision has been made yet about seeking a death sentence.
Reiner briefly made a court appearance the week of his arrest, but his arraignment was postponed at the request of Jackson.
“There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case. Those need to be thoroughly but very carefully dealt with,” Jackson added following that hearing.
On Wednesday, Reiner arrived to the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in brown clothing and close-shaved hair, and briefly conferred with Jackson and other attorneys through plexiglass as he sat in an enclosed area for defendants.
After sitting down, Reiner quietly stared straight ahead, expressionless. His attorneys spoke to the judge briefly and intermittently conferred with Reiner before Jackson announced his withdrawal from the case.
For years, Reiner has struggled with drug abuse, with several stints in rehab. He also fought with his parents often. “Being Charlie,” the loosely autobiographical 2015 film based on his experiences that was co-written by Reiner and directed by his father, reflected their tense family dynamic. One of Reiner’s final arguments with his parents reportedly happened at a holiday party hosted by Conan O’Brien where he had been behaving strangely, according to a person with knowledge of the party, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.
Reiner’s 34-year-old brother, Jake, and his 28-year-old sister, Romy, wrote in a statement last month that “words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life. We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
Other tributes had also poured in from close entertainer friends Billy and Janice Crystal, Martin Short and Larry David, and from Democratic political figures including Barack and Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi.
Rob Reiner won two Emmy Awards for his role in “All in the Family.” He also directed several critically acclaimed films such as “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally …” and “The Princess Bride.” Singer Reiner was a photographer known for taking Donald Trump’s photo for his 1987 book “The Art of the Deal.”
The Reiners, who met on the set of “When Harry Met Sally …” and were married to each other for 36 years, collaborated on film projects and political activism, advocating for early-childhood education and the legalization of same-sex marriage at the state and national levels.
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