Nick Reiner Murder Case: Who Is Paying the Legal Bills? And More Questions

For what’s been characterized as an open-and-shut case, there are still a lot of questions about the slayings of Hollywood icon Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele. The couple was found fatally stabbed in the master bedroom of their Brentwood home in the early hours of Dec. 14. Their son, Nick Reiner, was arrested shortly after for the killings. The LAPD has not said what made them focus on him as a suspect, and prosecutors have yet to detail a motive for the slayings. Alan Jackson, Nick’s high-flying lawyer, has cautioned against speculation. “There are very, very complex, serious issues associated with this case,” he said last month.

But if the case against Reiner is strong, his long history of drug use and related mental health disorders will almost certainly play a major role in the trial, sentencing and posture of prosecutors.

Reiner was charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances relating to multiple homicides. Los Angeles County prosecutors have also advanced a special allegation over the use of a deadly weapon, a knife, in the crime. If convicted, he could face a death sentence or life in prison without the possibility of parole, though prosecutors have not yet decided whether they will seek capital punishment.

Reiner made his first court appearance in the case last month, when he only spoke to say, “Yes, your honor,” after being asked if he agreed to a January date for his arraignment. He’s expected to formally enter his plea later today.

Here are some key legal considerations ahead of the hearing.

The arraignment may be rescheduled again

When time isn’t on your side, why not ask for more? Over the past month, Reiner has been meeting with a battery of medical professionals who have been asked to evaluate his mental state at the time of the killings. Their testimony will play a pivotal role in the case. Rounding up a high-caliber crew of doctors and forensic mental health experts is no easy task. Absent a complete screening, Jackson may not have landed on a final decision as to a plea, though the default is to plead not guilty. The media-savvy lawyer may also want to delay the arraignment until attention on the case begins to subside.

Another potential factor: There is still some uncertainty about how Reiner is paying for his costly defense. Jackson, who signed on to represent Nick a day after his arrest, is one of the most prominent lawyers in the country — a savvy criminal defense attorney who previously represented Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Karen Read. His services do not come cheap. The state of Reiner’s finances are unknown, but a retainer on a case like this probably lands in the seven figures, with the cost of taking it to trial well north of $1 million.

“An undertaking like this case will be very expensive considering the legal counsel involved and the type of work required,” says Halim Dhanidina, a former state and court of appeals judge and prosecutor. “It’s not unusual for an arraignment to be continued for that reason. Once you’re the attorney of record, you can’t just walk away from the case.”

If the case does proceed as scheduled, there’s no downside to Reiner pleading not guilty considering he can change his plea at any time. It’s been speculated that he’ll pursue a not guilty by reason of insanity defense, but more on that later.

Pursuing a death sentence would be politically fraught for prosecutors

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman unseated his progressive predecessor, George Gascon, by running on a platform that included getting tougher on crime. One of his first initiatives was restoring the death penalty in Los Angeles, though it’s been two decades since California has carried out a capital sentence. The special circumstances charged in this case — the allegation that Reiner committed multiple homicides — opened the door to capital punishment.

Still, the optics of the case may dissuade prosecutors from seeking the death sentence, which Hochman said he would only pursue in “rare cases,” like the killing of a law enforcement officer or school shootings. Reiner appears to have a well-documented history of mental health disorders. It’s been widely reported that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago. According to an NBC News report, he was being treated for a serious psychiatric disorder at the time of his parents’ murder. Other reports have claimed that Reiner’s medication was adjusted or changed in the weeks leading up to the attack, leading to increasingly “erratic and dangerous” behavior, with some sources describing him as being “out of his head.”

The wild card will be Reiner’s two siblings. They have not publicly spoken about the murders, but the little they have said suggests that they’re empathetic about their brother’s state. In a statement shortly after the killings, Jake and Romy Reiner asked that speculation about the case “be tempered with compassion and humanity.”

“The public perception on mental health issues may complicate a death sentence and seeking it could make Nick a more sympathetic character,” says Stephen Cazares, a partner at Foundation Law Group and former prosecutor. “And even if you get a death penalty conviction, it doesn’t really result in anything with all of the appeals. Why take that on?”

Reiner’s family may be funding his defense

There are a couple of possibilities as to how Reiner is footing his legal bills: the first is that Jackson could be taking the case pro bono; another is he could be a beneficiary of the trust of his grandfather, Carl Reiner, a legendary actor, director and writer whose career spanned decades, or the living trust of his now-deceased parents; the last is that his family is paying.

Reiner likely can’t draw from his parents’ irrevocable trust, if there is one. Under what’s called the “slayer statute,” a person who “feloniously and intentionally kills from the decedent” is not entitled to benefit from the estate. The law applies even without a criminal conviction, though that fight would play out in probate court.

It’s possible Reiner was a beneficiary of a living trust set up by his parents, but it appears he wasn’t independently wealthy considering he lived on their property. That vehicle also wouldn’t provide the oversight Reiner’s parents likely would have wanted to curb their son’s addiction struggles. That leaves Reiner’s family.

An insanity defense will be an uphill climb but could come into play

A successful not guilty by reason of insanity defense is exceedingly rare. It only applies when there’s a condition that establishes the accused did not understand what they were doing or could not understand the difference between right and wrong.

“A lot of people suffer from mental illness and that illness plays a role in decision-making, but they still know they’re murdering someone. They know murder is wrong,” Dhanidina says. “If suffering from a mental illness that rendered the actions he did involuntary, then he would be not guilty of a crime altogether. That’s not really what we have here.”

Here, Reiner left the scene and checked into the Pierside Santa Monica hotel hours after he got into an argument with his parents at a Saturday holiday party at Conan O’Brien’s home, sources told The Hollywood Reporter. He was later arrested in South Los Angeles near USC. His movements after the crime may suggest that he knew he committed a crime.

Still, that’s not the only route Reiner can take. First-degree murder requires a showing of premeditation with the intent to kill. If Reiner’s mental state was such that it made him incapable of having that intent, he may be guilty of a lesser degree of murder.

“Even if there’s an intentional murder, it can be manslaughter because it can occur in the heat of passion after some kind of provocation,” Dhanidina adds. “In some cases, the more violent the assault, the better the argument is that it wasn’t first degree but rather some sort of spasm of violence.”

Cazares says that Reiner’s history of mental health disorders could undermine first-degree murder charges. “You can’t go both ways,” he says. “You’re either going for the home run or acknowledging that [mental health issues] played a role and that there’s a reason this happened, like him not taking his medication or there being a change in medication.”

It’ll be a major legal battleground as the case progresses, if it even gets that far.