CA - Murder victims Identified as Rob Reiner and wife Michele - LA Dec 14 2025

[Seattle1]

I have a feeling AJ is going to go after the caregivers that changed his medication. He could be representing the family and feel their brother was given wrong drugs leading to his behavior. It may explain AJ's adamant assertion that NR is not guilty. I also don't feel that Conan O should feel guilty for not calling the police. The parents were present and aware of his behavior. If anyone should call the police it should be the parents. Why would doctors change medication without having NR under close scrutiny? Did parents feel they could monitor NR with sober coaches? This is a heart wrenching story and unfortunately not the only family facing these challenges.

Dr Drew responds to questions about why NR's meds may have been changed, and how CA law prevents patients from being locked up unless they meet specific criteria, at the link below.

I disagree that AJ does not believe NR responsible for the deaths of his parents. However, I think he's passionate about the NGRI defense being applicable to NR in this case --where he was legally insane when he caused the death of his parents. JMO

Dr. Drew Criticizes Decision to Change Nick Reiner’s Meds, Blames California Policies

Dr. Drew says doctors prescribing medication to Nick Reiner for his mental illness royally screwed up by changing his meds in the weeks leading up to his parents' murders ... but hindsight is 20/20, and there are all sorts of reasons why the meds get changed.

www.tmz.com

 

[BUF]

I am perplexed by the long statement AJ made. There was really no reason at all for him to talk. I wonder if he may end up working for the kids or someone else to get the help Nick obviously needs.

Just my opinion…..but I got the feeling that the comments AJ made at the presser after he withdrew as counsel for NR was his way of trying to control the narrative that it was because of money. His comments about him and his staff working non-stop for the past three weeks confirmed that for me.

Not only is AJ a good lawyer….but he is also good at media PR

 

[JDG]

Just my opinion…..but I got the feeling that the comments AJ made at the presser after he withdrew as counsel for NR was his way of trying to control the narrative that it was because of money. His comments about him and his staff working non-stop for the past three weeks confirmed that for me.

Not only is AJ a good lawyer….but he is also good at media PR

He might have been alerting other high profile lawyers that ‘Mr. Green never showed up’ so that they don’t spend weeks mounting a case for Reiner.

It’s definitely the lack of money.

 

[lohrtabitha]

Do we know for sure what Nick was diagnosed with?

We know that a month before the killings Nick was stable on his meds and then the doctors changed his meds and he was spiraling. They did not put him on a psychiatric hold to stabilize him. All reported by Dr. Drew. Dr. Drew Says Changing Nick Reiner's Meds Was Wrong Move, Rips California

 

[lohrtabitha]

After several weeks of investigation and research of the evidence, I believe AJ was prepared to enter what he believed was the best plea for his client at Tuesday's scheduled arraignment, but was stopped in his tracks.

IMO, a prudent defense team here will not want a bifurcated trial (dual plea) where the question of NR's guilt, and the question of his sanity are dealt with in two separate proceedings.

I think AJ wanted to enter a single plea of "not guilty by reason of insanity," where the court proceeds directly to the sanity trial, and there is no separate trial on guilt or innocence. In other words, the defense concedes/stipulates that NR was responsible for the death of the victims but was insane when the offenses were committed. Ultimately, I think NR rejected the NGRI defense proposed by AJ -- perhaps because he's in complete denial that he murdered his parents.

Just the same -- what best could stop the flow of financial assistance to NR from family and friends than for NR to refuse the advice of counsel, and/or to accept responsibility for his horrific act against his parents. JMO

References:

The plea of insanity is thus necessarily one of "confession and avoidance." (People v. Troche (1928) 206 Cal. 35, 44 [273 P. 767].) "Commission of the overt act is conceded" but punishment is avoided "upon the sole ground that at the time the overt act was committed the defendant was [insane]." (People v. Wells (1949) 33 Cal.2d 330, 349-350 [202 P.2d 53], italics in original.)

The "sanity trial is but a part of the same criminal proceeding as the guilt phase" (People v. Flores (1976) 55 Cal.App.3d 118, 122 [127 Cal.Rptr. 230]) but differs procedurally from the guilt phase of trial "in that the issue is confined to sanity and the burden is upon the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was insane at the time of the offense" (id. at p. 121). As in the determination of guilt, the verdict of the jury must be unanimous. (People v. Troche, supra, 206 Cal. at p. 44.)

How to plead "not guilty by reason of insanity" in California

https://youtu.be/2EHI69bMq4A Under California's insanity defense, you cannot be convicted of a crime if you were legally insane when you committed it.1 You are considered legally insane if you either: Did not understand the nature of your criminal act, OR Did not understand that what you were...

www.shouselaw.com

I wonder how detention centers are about getting and giving inmates their medications? Does anyone know? I recently learned that they dont have to give inmates outside time nor do they have to allow visitation. The lawyer can visit but anyone who wants to talk to an inmate had to do so via the computer. They say because they aren't a prison, they dont have to comply to prison regulations.

 

[lohrtabitha]

He was, allegedly, diagnosed very recently. That means: long after the multiple rehab stays. Also, sober coaches are usually not mental health specialists and they do not have the credentials to diagnose mental health issues.

I disagree because we know he was throwing outrageous tantrums at 10. I'm sure that the Reiners would have sought psychiatry services for Nick. There was a probably a diagnosis back then. They weren't required to share with the world thst their son suffers from a mental illness. My parents wouldn't even tell their close friends that I was majorly suffering from depression in my early 20s. They didn't want people to think bad of them or of me. Mental illness is private, very personal, and traumatic for those involved. Imo

 

[lohrtabitha]

The article I commented on, very recent, from today, states that:



Bolded by me. That's what I was commenting on.

So diagnoses before that could have been ODD or Bipolar. I'm sure they were watching as Nick aged and several threads have discussed that drugs can cause schizophrenia. IMO

 

[LadyL]

Find where MSM says he went for one and then I will believe it. I personally have researched it and cannot find any sign of it. I am talking about Nick Reiner going to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after he left Conan's party.

2 Cents

oh I didn't know you meant after the party

 

[LadyL]

I am perplexed by the long statement AJ made. There was really no reason at all for him to talk. I wonder if he may end up working for the kids or someone else to get the help Nick obviously needs.

because he likes the spotlight IMO

 

[JDG]

Insiders reveal how the Reiner family decided to ax Nick's legal fund

Nick Reiner's siblings decided they will no longer support their brother's expensive legal bills and have agreed to cut him off completely, the Daily Mail can reveal.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Cedars]

Dr. Drew Criticizes Decision to Change Nick Reiner’s Meds, Blames California Policies

Dr. Drew says doctors prescribing medication to Nick Reiner for his mental illness royally screwed up by changing his meds in the weeks leading up to his parents' murders ... but hindsight is 20/20, and there are all sorts of reasons why the meds get changed.

www.tmz.com

I think AJ has pulled the rug from under TMZ. Too bad all their 'insider knowledge' won't explain what's really going on.

I am just guessing, but I will put my bets on NR pleading not guilty in the old fashioned way of 'I'm innocent, prove I did it".

Possibly, he resents his relatives for their plot to put him away for life in a mental institution.

 

[getthefax]

Or the money isn't going to be available to pay him his fees?

It could be something as simple as Jackson thinking the public defender will have a slam dunk with an insanity defense, and doesn’t feel it would be ethical to take the Reiner’s money for a very expensive defense…..


But… Jackson is a lawyer, so… he probably wants to get paid and the money may be held up.

 

[Wishbone]

Insiders reveal how the Reiner family decided to ax Nick's legal fund

Nick Reiner's siblings decided they will no longer support their brother's expensive legal bills and have agreed to cut him off completely, the Daily Mail can reveal.

www.dailymail.co.uk

paywall....what's it say, lol

 

[Gemmie]

paywall....what's it say, lol

You can use archive.is to read those articles. Just paste the link you want to read into the bottom section that reads "I want to search the archive for saved snapshots".

 

[Cedars]

paywall....what's it say, lol

It's blocked for me: not a paywall but like dangerous malware source (true).

However, other sources are stating that NR's family have cut off any funds for NR's benefit.

They claim he refused to meet with AJ's staff, wouldn't cooerate in any way...However, to me that would just play perfectly into AJ's planned insanity defense, so I don't see that as being the problem...IMO he pprobably said something to family, or new info came to light, causing a family backlash against him...or possibly, realizing that funding his defense would be just playing into his games, yet again.

Nick Reiner Reportedly Cut Off by Family Financially After Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s Murders

Nick Reiner will have to find a way to pay for a defense team for the case involving his parents’ murders as “the family has completely cut Nick off,” according to Rob Shuter. “They are devastated. But they realized they cannot support him anymore—not financially, not emotionally, not morally,”...

nationalenquirer.com

 

[Arkay]

Just my opinion…..but I got the feeling that the comments AJ made at the presser after he withdrew as counsel for NR was his way of trying to control the narrative that it was because of money. His comments about him and his staff working non-stop for the past three weeks confirmed that for me.

Not only is AJ a good lawyer….but he is also good at media PR

I agree.

IMO a lot of this speechifying was done with an eye toward any future potential clients out there. He certainly can’t let them think that he may suddenly abandon them, so withdrawing from Nick’s case has to be depicted as something regrettable and lamentable, unforeseen and beyond Jackson’s control.

So this is managing the situation, lest well-off clients who need him someday would instead hire a different bigshot lawyer.

JMO

 

[AuDHD]

AJ could be calculated in his words and even deliberately vague, simply because it is a very high profile case and he does not want to be accused of making a former client look bad to the jury by saying “he’s an entitled brat, i don’t have time to babysit him” or something like that. JMO

 

[Sundog]

Finally, I find the entire AJ withdrawal very perplexing. Leave for whatever is the reason, okay fine, by why emphasize how hard you’ve worked, how Nick is such an innocent, and demand the press print that?

<Snipped for focus>

I wonder if AJ made a big show the way he did when he spoke to the media about leaving the case because, as you described, he emphasized how hard he worked, that NR is innocent, etc. because he couldn't exactly say that he wasn't going to be paid, so he withdrew. I doubt he wanted to have the headline be that he withdrew from the case because of money. It wouldn't sound as good, leaving a client in the lurch and having to start all over with a public defender and not a hot-shot lawyer that one would imagine for the son of such a famous couple and family.

 

[Betty P]

We know that a month before the killings Nick was stable on his meds and then the doctors changed his meds and he was spiraling. They did not put him on a psychiatric hold to stabilize him. All reported by Dr. Drew. Dr. Drew Says Changing Nick Reiner's Meds Was Wrong Move, Rips California

That’s all well and good, but I don’t see how that should justify letting NR go free or be sentenced to stay in a mental hospital. He will still be a danger to the public. His siblings can’t and shouldn’t have to be responsible for him. Hes’s probably always going to be at risk of violence towards others. No jury or judge will want to see him out on the streets again. JMO

 

[LinasK]

It's blocked for me: not a paywall but like dangerous malware source (true).

However, other sources are stating that NR's family have cut off any funds for NR's benefit.

They claim he refused to meet with AJ's staff, wouldn't cooerate in any way...However, to me that would just play perfectly into AJ's planned insanity defense, so I don't see that as being the problem...IMO he pprobably said something to family, or new info came to light, causing a family backlash against him...or possibly, realizing that funding his defense would be just playing into his games, yet again.

Nick Reiner Reportedly Cut Off by Family Financially After Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s Murders

Nick Reiner will have to find a way to pay for a defense team for the case involving his parents’ murders as “the family has completely cut Nick off,” according to Rob Shuter. “They are devastated. But they realized they cannot support him anymore—not financially, not emotionally, not morally,”...

nationalenquirer.com

Non-cooperation isn't legally "insane". Jodi Arias refused to go that defense route as well. She didn't want to be labeled insane. My guess is neither does Nick. He wants to take credit for his work.