Nick Reiner Now Has Public Defender After Alan Jackson Withdraws — The Warning Signs Nobody Could Act On
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 907 Ratings
🗓️ 11 January 2026
⏱️ 42 minutes
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Summary
Our week in review on the Nick Reiner case — the dramatic attorney shakeup and the years of warning signs that led to December 14th.
Alan Jackson, the million-dollar attorney who got Karen Read acquitted, told a Los Angeles judge he had "no choice" but to withdraw from Nick Reiner's defense. Sources point to money. Nick now has Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene — who was informed last night, had thirty seconds to meet her client, and carries nineteen years of experience into a case that will define careers. Arraignment postponed to February 23rd. No plea entered. For the first time in thirty-two years, Nick Reiner faces the justice system without unlimited resources.
But we also examined what everyone saw coming. A neighbor said this wasn't the first time Nick had been violent. An LAPD insider confirmed "quite a few calls for service" to the Reiner home over the years. The night before his parents were found stabbed to death, Nick was reportedly so erratic at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party that guests were unnerved. Rob allegedly told friends that night: "I'm petrified of Nick. I think my own son can hurt me."
Defense attorney Bob Motta joined us to break down the warning signs and the system that couldn't respond. Nick had been through seventeen rehab programs. He'd admitted on podcasts to gaming those programs. Professionals reportedly warned the family for years. California's LPS Act made intervention nearly impossible — requiring imminent danger, not probable danger, not visible deterioration. Rob and Michele were legally trapped with no way to force treatment. Some tragedies are preventable. Some aren't.
#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #AlanJackson #KimberlyGreene #BobMotta #LPSAct #MentalHealthCrisis #HiddenKillers #WeekInReview
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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. |
| 0:09.2 | This is Hidden Killers Live with Tony Bruske, Stacey Cole and Todd Michaels. |
| 0:17.3 | What we're learning about in the Rob Reiner situation right now is that Nick Reiner, there was, it was a, it was a medication transition period, if you will, transferring from one medication to another, which can be a risky time. It can, it's always a scary thing, especially when you're dealing with any sort of anti-psychotic |
| 0:39.7 | drugs. We don't know exactly what he was taking, so we can't really say there for sure. But whatever |
| 0:44.3 | it was, whatever medication you're getting on or off of, it can be a dangerous point in time. |
| 0:49.8 | One of the big questions that's being asked is it's $70,000 a month. Why is this being handled |
| 0:56.3 | in the backyard guesthouse of a 78-year-old man? As if this is like the appropriate setting for |
| 1:04.5 | this to be taking place. At the end of the day, will this trial do a whole lot in terms of correcting the system? No, it's going to decide |
| 1:13.6 | whether Nick Reiner ends up getting the death penalty, going to prison for the rest of his life, |
| 1:17.7 | or in some sort of a psychiatric hold for the rest of his life. One of three options will take |
| 1:22.4 | place. But it does bring awareness to the whole problem that exists, where Rob and Michelle should have never |
| 1:30.2 | been in the situation to begin with, of managing this moment in Nick's life, what I'm sure of |
| 1:36.0 | many, where he's switching medications and hoping to God he's going to be in a good place. |
| 1:41.0 | The option that was presented to them in their minds, the best solution at |
| 1:45.8 | that night was to take him to a formal party where he had no business being because they were |
| 1:51.7 | afraid of what he could do to himself. So let's go put him around people. Maybe that'll be better. |
| 1:56.4 | They knew, I'm sure, in their hearts, that this could turn on to be a complete train wreck, |
| 1:59.8 | which it did. But it was better than the alternative. |
| 2:03.2 | And that's the reality that so many people are facing with people like this. |
| 2:08.0 | So if anything, hopefully this brings this to a light. |
... |
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