Nick Reiner Murder Case: Why Alan Jackson Withdrew & What the Sealed Evidence Reveals
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.2 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 24 January 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Nick Reiner case just took a turn nobody predicted. Alan Jackson—the attorney who defended Michael Jackson's doctor and built a reputation on high-stakes trials—withdrew from representing Nick Reiner while publicly declaring him "not guilty of murder" under California law. He told reporters to take that statement "to the bank." Then he told the judge he's "legally and ethically prohibited" from explaining his departure. What did he find?
The answer sits in sealed documents nobody outside that courtroom can access. A confidential medical order. Ten subpoenas Jackson's team issued before withdrawing—a list the judge has explicitly hidden from prosecutors. Three weeks of defense investigation that ended with Jackson making the most unusual public statement of his career.
Nick Reiner is charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for the deaths of his mother Michele Reiner and her partner. He's eligible for the death penalty. Sources confirm he was being treated for schizophrenia at the time of the killings. He appeared at his first hearing in a suicide prevention smock. His medications reportedly aren't stabilized. How long before this becomes a formal competency challenge?
Attorney Eric Faddis breaks down the legal landscape this week—examining Jackson's strategic signals, what the gas station surveillance footage really proves, and how Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene approaches a case with this much sealed evidence. DA Nathan Hochman says he's "fully confident" in conviction.
But confidence doesn't explain what's in those sealed documents. And Jackson's declaration doesn't disappear just because he's no longer making the argument.
#NickReiner #AlanJackson #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #TrueCrimeToday #SealedEvidence #InsanityDefense #EricFaddis #DeathPenalty #CaliforniaCourts
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the big breakdown. |
| 0:02.2 | A long look back at some of the biggest stories we're covering for you at the Hidden |
| 0:05.9 | Killers podcast and True Crime Today. |
| 0:09.5 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Burski, Stacey Cole, and Todd Michaels. |
| 0:18.9 | The Nick Reiner case took a dramatic turn in the last days when high-profile defense attorney Alan Jackson fresh off his care and read acquittal, withdrew from representing Nick what was supposed to be his arraignment. |
| 0:32.2 | Jackson said he was legally and ethically prohibited from explaining why, citing circumstances beyond our control and, more importantly, beyond Nick's control. |
| 0:46.6 | But then he walked outside the courthouse and told reporters, pursuant to the law in California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder. |
| 0:52.7 | Print that. Take that to the bank. |
| 0:55.1 | Nick is now represented by Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Green. Arraignment has been pushed now to February 23rd. |
| 1:02.1 | And there's a sealed medical order that sources say relates to his mental health treatment. |
| 1:07.1 | He's charged at two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, multiple murders with use of a deadly weapon, which means the DA can seek the death penalty or life without parole. |
| 1:17.4 | In this conviction, I want to break down what's actually happening now legally and what the road ahead looks like to help us do that. |
| 1:26.6 | Eric Fattis is with us, defense attorney |
| 1:29.4 | and former prosecutor. Eric, welcome. Let's start with Alan Jackson's withdrawal. He said he was |
| 1:36.2 | legally and ethically prohibited from explaining why, but then walked outside to more cameras and |
| 1:42.0 | declared Dick Ryder not guilty of murder under California law. |
| 1:46.1 | What sort of circumstances would force a high-profile attorney to withdraw from a case |
| 1:49.6 | while simultaneously continuing to make public declarations about it? |
| 1:54.7 | What does it tell you about where this case is headed, where this defense is headed? |
| 1:59.2 | So there are a number of potential reasons why an attorney would have to legally and ethically |
| 2:04.8 | withdraw. |
| 2:06.0 | You know, when you're meeting with your client, you're receiving information from them. |
... |
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