Can Nick Reiner Beat a Double Murder Charge With the Insanity Defense? | Legal Analysis
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 907 Ratings
🗓️ 7 January 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
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Summary
Alan Jackson doesn't take cases he can't spin. The high-powered defense attorney — fresh off Karen Read's acquittal — is now representing Nick Reiner, charged with murdering his parents Rob and Michele Reiner in their Brentwood home. And he's already laying the groundwork for what's coming.
"Very complex and serious issues." "Restraint and dignity." That's defense attorney code for: we're going with insanity.
Nick was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago. His medication was reportedly adjusted weeks before the killings. A sealed court order regarding his mental health has already been signed. He appeared at his first hearing in a suicide prevention smock, wasn't medically cleared the day before, and said only two words: "Yes, your honor."
The optics are being set. But can it actually work?
California's M'Naghten standard is brutal for defendants. You have to prove you didn't understand what you were doing or didn't know it was wrong. Not that you were mentally ill. Not that you were hearing voices. The bar is specific and high.
Bob Motta joins us to explain how insanity defenses actually play out in court. What evidence moves juries? How do prosecutors counter claims of psychosis? And here's the question no one wants to ask: if Nick spent seventeen years manipulating his parents, gaming rehab programs, and convincing them to ignore professional warnings — can he really claim he didn't understand what he was doing when he allegedly killed them?
Mental illness is real. But so is accountability. Bob Motta breaks down where the law draws that line.
#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #InsanityDefense #AlanJackson #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #CaliforniaLaw #MentalHealth #ReinerCase
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Bruske, Stacey Cole, and Todd Michaels. |
| 0:08.8 | Let's go over to the Reiner case. |
| 0:11.6 | Nick Reiner is set to be arraigned tomorrow on two counts of first-degree murder. |
| 0:17.2 | Wednesday, that is, with special circumstances and the stabbing deaths of his parents. |
| 0:22.1 | Legendary filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle Singer-Riner, the 32-year-old, has been held without bail at Twin Towers Correctional Facility since his arrest December 14th, the same day his parents' bodies were discovered in the master bedroom of their Brettonwood home. |
| 0:37.0 | Defense attorney Alan Jackson, obviously, known for his work with Karen Reed and Harvey Weinstein, |
| 0:42.3 | has been signaling from day one that mental health will be a central key component to this case. |
| 0:47.6 | He's called it a devastating tragedy with very complex and serious issues as he cashes his check. |
| 0:55.2 | Sources have confirmed Nick was diagnosed with schizophrenia years ago, |
| 0:59.3 | and his medication was changed in the weeks prior to the killings. |
| 1:03.2 | A sealed medical order has already been signed by the judge overseeing the case. |
| 1:07.6 | All signs point to the insanity defense, but what does that actually mean |
| 1:12.4 | in California and how hard is it to win? And what is Alan Jackson really building here other than |
| 1:18.4 | his bank account to break it down? Bob Mata is with us. Bob Allen has been using those phrases, |
| 1:26.2 | complex, serious issues, asking for restraint and dignity since the first appearance outside the courthouse to you. |
| 1:33.3 | What is he telegraphing and how early does a defense attorney typically start lying groundwork for the insanity defense? |
| 1:40.3 | Pretty early. |
| 1:41.5 | You know, I mean, if you look at the situation for what it is, and I think everybody that was kind of looking at that from the outside looking in was like it was either the addiction or it was mental illness or a combination of boy. |
| 1:54.6 | Yeah. |
| 1:55.1 | Right. |
| 1:55.7 | So it's like, so, yeah, I mean, typically if you know as the attorney, kind of the way that this thing played out, you were lining up your doctors immediately and you're kind of putting it out there. |
| 2:11.1 | And if you are of the mindset, because we really do as defense attorneys consider it to be the defense of last resort |
... |
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