Nick Reiner has enlisted a new attorney following the withdrawal of Alan Jackson from his legal defense team.
On January 7, a judge in the United States determined to postpone Reiner’s arraignment in connection to the deaths of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. This decision followed a request from his renowned defense attorney to step down from the case.
Should Reiner be convicted of murdering his well-known parents, he could face a life sentence or potentially the death penalty.
After the hearing at the Los Angeles Superior Court, Jackson addressed the media, stating: “Circumstances beyond my control, but more importantly circumstances beyond Nick’s control, have made it impossible for us to continue our representation.”
“I’m legally and ethically prohibited from explaining the reasons why,” he added.
Reiner’s arraignment is now set for February 23.
The Los Angeles Times reports that since Jackson was a private attorney, there is speculation that Reiner might have been unable to afford his services, necessitating a switch to a publicly-funded lawyer.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor not involved with the Reiner case, commented to the news outlet: “Either Nick can’t pay him or they disagreed on strategy.”
Jackson has been succeeded by Kimberley Greene from the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Greene earned her law degree from Loyola Law School and has been practicing as an attorney for approximately 19 years.
Greene faced questions from the media outside the court following the announcement of her new role as Reiner’s legal counsel.
During the interview, Greene mentioned that she had only spoken to the 32-year-old ‘for about 30 seconds this morning’ and confirmed that she had not communicated with other family members.
“We’ve had no contact with the family and I don’t think that they were aware that this was going on,” Greene told reporters, as reported by Fox News Digital.
Ricardo Garcia, the LA County Public Defender, also spoke to the press, expressing: “We are incredibly sorry and understand the pain and suffering the Reiner family are going through at this time, as well as the entire Los Angeles community.”
He added that they had only been informed the previous day that they would be taking over Reiner’s defense.
A representative for the Reiner family addressed the situation, saying to Reuters: “[The family] have the utmost trust in the legal process and will not comment further on matters related to the legal proceedings.”
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