Defense attorney Alan Jackson, who will represent Nick Reiner following his arrest on suspicion of murder in the killings of his parents, said Tuesday morning that his client is waiting for a medical screening before making his first court appearance.
The famed defense attorney confirmed Tuesday that he has been retained as the 32-year-old Reiner’s defense counsel and spoke with reporters outside of court in Los Angeles about when Nick Reiner is expected to make his first appearance in front of a judge. Jackson has represented a number of high-profile clients, including acting as lead defense attorney for Karen Read in her murder trial.
Read was acquitted earlier this year in the death of her Boston police boyfriend.
Nick Reiner remained in jail Tuesday morning without bail ahead of a possible court appearance later Tuesday. He was arrested Monday on suspicion of murder in the killings of Rob, 78, and Michele Reiner, 68, whose bodies were found Sunday inside their home in Los Angeles’ Brentwood community.
Early Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors said they will file first-degree murder charges against Reiner.
Outside court Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, Jackson said Nick Reiner still needed medical clearance before he can go to court, calling the matter a procedural issue. The sheriff’s department requires medical screenings for a variety of reasons, including court remands and new bookings.
Asked how Reiner was doing, Jackson said he is hopeful his client will be cleared to appear in court later this week.
Los Angeles County prosecutors planned to speak about the case at a 1 p.m. Tuesday news conference.
Details about a possible motive for the killings were not immediately available.
A source close to Reiner confirmed to NBC News that Reiner and his wife had apparent stab wounds. The medical examiner has not provided details about an official cause of death.
Nick Reiner was the second of the couple’s three children.
The deaths of Rob Reiner, a celebrated director whose long list of successful films included “When Harry Met Sally…,” “A Few Good Men” and “This Is Spinal Tap,” and Michele Reiner, a talent photographer and producer, stunned the Hollywood community and led to an outpouring of tributes from entertainment industry colleagues, political figures and more.
The family’s challenges with Nick were well-documented, including battles with drug addiction.
In 2015, Rob and Nick Reiner worked on a coming-of-age film together called “Being Charlie.” Directed by Rob Reiner and co-written by Nick Reiner, the film explored the relationship between a son and father. In a 2016 interview with the Associated Press, they talked about the film.
“It forced us to understand ourselves better than we had,” Rob Reiner told the AP. “I told Nick while we were making it, I said, ‘You know it doesn’t matter, whatever happens to this thing, we won already. This has already been good.’ We’ve worked through a lot of stuff.”
In September, the family appeared together at the Los Angeles premiere of “Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues.’
Nick Reiner has spoken publicly over the years about his struggles with drug addiction, which began in his teens. He told People in an interview in 2016 that he cycled in and out of treatment facilities with bouts of homelessness and relapses in between.
“I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun,” Nick Reiner told People, adding that, “If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs they were suggesting, then I had to be homeless.”
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