Can Nick Reiner Beat Murder With an Insanity Defense? | California Law Explained
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 907 Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Alan Jackson's final words as Nick Reiner's attorney weren't a goodbye — they were a legal prediction: "Nick Reiner is NOT guilty of murder under California law."
He's signaling an insanity defense. And that defense just became someone else's problem.
Nick Reiner was allegedly being treated for schizophrenia at the time he killed his parents, director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. Sources tell NBC4 about the schizophrenia diagnosis. TMZ reports schizoaffective disorder. Multiple outlets confirm his medication was changed weeks before the killings, leading to behavior described as "erratic and dangerous."
But here's what people misunderstand: having a serious mental illness isn't the same as being legally insane. California uses the M'Naghten Rule — one of the strictest standards in the country. The defense must prove that at the exact moment of the crime, Nick either couldn't understand what he was doing or couldn't distinguish right from wrong.
Less than one percent of defendants plead insanity. Only about a quarter of those succeed.
Attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis joins us to break down how this defense actually works — and whether Nick Reiner has a realistic shot. We examine the difference between competency to stand trial and legal insanity, how medication changes factor into the defense, and what prosecutors will use to undermine claims of psychosis.
We also discuss what happens if the defense succeeds. Nick wouldn't walk free — he'd be committed to a California state hospital, potentially for life.
The insanity defense is one of the hardest strategies in criminal law. Does Nick Reiner's case meet the standard? Eric Faddis gives us the legal reality.
#NickReiner #RobReiner #InsanityDefense #Schizophrenia #CaliforniaLaw #MurderTrial #TrueCrime #MNaghtenRule #HiddenKillers #MentalHealthDefense
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As you can hear from my voice, I'm in a state of high acceleration. |
| 0:05.0 | Yes, I am positively beside myself. |
| 0:09.0 | The reason that I can barely contain my enthusiasm is the Ikea Winter Sale, |
| 0:15.0 | for weeks of incredible bargains, the inexpressible thrill of finding precisely the right thing at the right |
| 0:23.6 | price. |
| 0:24.6 | Sail now on, Ikea, the wonderful every day. |
| 0:29.6 | As you can hear from my voice, I'm in a state of high acceleration. |
| 0:34.6 | Yes, I am positively beside myself. The reason that I can barely contain my |
| 0:41.6 | enthusiasm is the IKEA winter sale for weeks of incredible bargains, the inexpressible |
| 0:49.7 | thrill of finding precisely the right thing at the right price. |
| 0:55.5 | Sail now on. |
| 0:57.5 | Take care the wonderful every day. |
| 1:00.2 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Bruske, Stacey Cole and Todd Michaels. |
| 1:08.5 | Let's get into that. |
| 1:10.0 | Alan Jackson's final public statement was a legal prediction. |
| 1:14.3 | Kind of disguised his fact. He went out in front of the courthouse, no longer representing Nick, |
| 1:19.7 | but, you know, got his last couple minutes of camera attention here saying Nick Reiner is not |
| 1:25.0 | guilty of murder under California law. |
| 1:28.6 | He's signaling an insanity defense. |
| 1:30.7 | Services have told NBC4 that Nick was being treated for schizophrenia at the time of the killings. |
| 1:35.3 | TMZ reports a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder. |
| 1:38.8 | His medication was reportedly changed weeks before, leading to erratic and dangerous behavior. |
... |
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