Alan Jackson will no longer represent Nick Reiner, PEOPLE confirms
NEED TO KNOW
Nick will be represented by a public defender for now
Nick is charged with killing his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner
Nick Reinerwill be represented by a public defender after his attorney withdrew from the case as he was set to be arraigned on murder charges connected to the stabbing deaths of his parents,Rob ReinerandMichele Singer Reiner.
Nick will no longer be represented by Alan Jackson, who appeared at Reiner's initial court appearance following his arrest, PEOPLE confirms. He will now be represented by a public defender named Kimberly Greene.
Nick was present in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday, Jan. 7, with his head shaved and wearing a tan jumpsuit, when Jackson went into the judge's chambers. He did not enter a plea.
Mona Shafer Edwards / BACKGRID
After speaking to the judge, Jackson said in court that his legal team had "no choice" but to withdraw from the case.
The arraignment was subsequently pushed to Feb. 23.
After the hearing, Jackson said he could not say why he had withdrawn from the case but said that his former client was "not guilty" of murder.
Mona Shafer Edwards / BACKGRID
Greene spoke after Jackson and told reporters that she only briefly spoke to Nick this morning and that she has not spoke to his family.
A spokesperson for the Reiner family issued a statement following Jackson's withdrawal.
"They have the utmost trust in the legal process and will not comment further on matters related to the legal proceedings," the spokesperson said.
Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, were founddeadin the family's home on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 14, while their son Nick, 32, was arrested roughly six hours later.
Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a Dec. 16 press conference that Nick is expected to face two counts of first-degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders, as well as a special allegation he used a "dangerous and deadly" weapon such as a knife.
Hochman briefly spoke following the hearing on Jan. 7, and said Nick was entitled to fair representation and expressed confidence that he would be found guilty of murder by a jury.
If he is convicted, Hochman said the charges could result in a possible life sentence without parole or the death penalty, given that the case is being tried under special circumstances. "No decision at this point has been made with respect to the death penalty," Hochman told reporters, noting the family's opinion would be taken into consideration.
Eric Charbonneau/Getty
The couple's deaths happened just hours after Rob and his son Nick were said to have gotten into a heated argument at a Christmas party hosted by Conan O'Brien on Saturday night, according to a timeline laid out ina press statementby the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
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Two sources described the incident between father and son at O'Brien's Christmas party, with one source calling it a"big fight."
Hours later, Rob and Michele were allegedly killed inside the family's home.
Rommel Demano/Getty
PEOPLE reported the couple's daughter Romy Reiner, 28, first made the discovery on Dec. 14. According toThe New York Times, Romy fled the home afterfinding her fatherand didn't initially realize her mother had also been killed until a paramedic informed her.
The couple was pronounced dead at the scene when the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at the family's home around 3:40 p.m. local time to provide medical aid.
Later that night, Nick was arrested "without incident" near the campus of the University of Southern California and booked on suspicion of murder, authorities said at the Dec. 16 press conference.
Romy and her older brother Jake Reiner, 34, said in a Dec. 17 joint statement that "the horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience" and asked the public for both privacy and "for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity" amid the legal fallout surrounding their brother Nick's impending charges.
"Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day," Jake and Romy said.
Rob and Michele first met while he was directingWhen Harry Met Sally…and later married in 1989. The couple had three children — Jake, Nick, and Romy — while Rob also shares daughter Tracey, 61, with his first wife, the late actressPenny Marshall.
Read the original article onPeople
