"That's NOT How You Win an Insanity Defense" — Attorney Reacts to Nick Reiner's Post-Offense Behavior
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 911 Ratings
🗓️ 14 January 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Defense attorney Bob Motta reacts to Nick Reiner's reported behavior after the alleged murders of Rob and Michele Reiner—and explains why it creates serious problems for an insanity defense.
Sources say Nick checked into the Pierside hotel in Santa Monica after what allegedly occurred, then spent over 24 hours navigating Los Angeles before being found near USC. He reportedly bought a drink at a gas station. The defense will argue Nick didn't understand the "nature and quality" of his actions due to a psychotic break triggered by a medication change. But Bob explains how prosecutors will use that extended, functional post-offense behavior to argue Nick had presence of mind—and what the defense must do to counter it.
California's insanity standard is more favorable to defendants than many states, but juries are skeptical. Bob breaks down the legal burden, the Carmichael precedent, and why the next few months of psychiatric evaluation will determine whether Nick Reiner spends his life in prison or a mental health facility.
This clip is from a full interview available on Hidden Killers. Subscribe for complete coverage of the Nick Reiner case and expert legal analysis.
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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. |
| 0:08.6 | Nick Reiner, now represented by a public defender after high-profile attorney Alan Jackson withdrew from the case, citing disagreements with his client. |
| 0:19.8 | We're going to get into all of this. |
| 0:22.0 | Sources say Nick now admits to killing his parents, but |
| 0:26.5 | believes his incarceration is part of a conspiracy against him. |
| 0:32.2 | That's the narrative that's coming out of Nickland. |
| 0:35.4 | His medication for schizoaffective disorder was reportedly changed about a month before the |
| 0:39.9 | murders after he complained about weight gain. |
| 0:42.2 | New TMZ documentary laying out that under California law, the insanity defense, doesn't |
| 0:46.5 | require proving he didn't know right from wrong, only that he didn't understand the nature |
| 0:51.5 | and quality of his actions. |
| 0:53.8 | We're going to dive into all |
| 0:54.8 | of this right now, specifically that angle, the angle of the defense of Nick Reiner, where it goes |
| 1:01.6 | from here. Bob Mata defense attorney is with us, host of the podcast Defense Diaries. Let's start |
| 1:07.5 | with your reaction to Alan Jackson walking away from this case after just a few weeks citing disagreements or citing issues with his client beyond his control, beyond the control of Nick Reiner. |
| 1:21.3 | Ten outstanding subpoenas when he left from a defense perspective. |
| 1:25.0 | What does this withdrawal tell you about what's happening behind the scenes in the defense of |
| 1:30.2 | Nick Reiner? |
| 1:32.4 | This, cash, lack their own. |
| 1:35.2 | You know, that's the one thing that Nick could not control. |
| 1:39.2 | Because obviously they have the Slayer statute out there, but we know that Nick was living in his dad's poolhouse or whatever the buck coach out. |
| 1:48.4 | Like Nick was not making any money unlike the other Reiner children who I think were self-sufficient. |
... |
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