Nick Reiner tapped heavyweight defense attorney Alan Jackson to represent him on charges related to the horrific murders of his parents. Jackson immediately argued that Reiner, 32, could not make his first scheduled court appearance because he had not been “medically cleared.”
Jackson confirmed to TMZ that he’d been retained. The high-profile defense attorney was spotted heading into a Los Angeles court on Tuesday, presumably in relation to Reiner’s case.
Jackson, of Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP, recently represented Karen Read, who was acquitted of the murder of her then-boyfriend, John O’Keefe, a police officer in Boston. He also previously represented actor Kevin Spacey and disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Reiner was supposed to make his first court appearance on Tuesday, but Jackson informed reporters waiting outside the Los Angeles courtroom that his client would not be present. Jackson said that there would be no hearing in the case Tuesday, and shared no information about his plans for the defense of his client going forward.
“You have to be medically cleared to be transported to the courthouse, and he has not,” Jackson said.
In the nearly 48 hours since the Reiners were found dead in their Brentwood home — discovered by their daughter Romy, 28 — dozens of reports have shed light on both the grisly murders and the complicated relationship Nick Reiner had had with his family after years of struggling with drug addiction.
When Romy discovered the bodies of her parents — who had reportedly had their throats slit — she immediately called 911. She informed police that her brother Nick had been living there, but was not there when she arrived, and said that he was “dangerous” and should be considered a suspect.
But shortly afterward, TMZ reported, she made a second call to a longtime family friend, actor and comedian Billy Crystal. Crystal rushed to the home quickly enough that the bodies of his deceased friends were still on the premises.
Hours later, Nick Reiner was arrested in Exposition Park, near downtown Los Angeles, in connection with the murders. TMZ reported that a hotel room linked to his credit card was left a bloody mess, with blood found on the bed and in the shower.
Reports indicated that some 24 hours prior to the murders, Nick and his parents had been involved in a “very loud argument” at a holiday party hosted by late-night comedian Conan O’Brien, and that Rob and Michele Reiner left the party a short time later. A neighbor and family friend speculated that the fight had likely been about Nick’s drug use, as he was “supposedly” off the drugs, but that may not have been the case.
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