The Reiner family expressed support for defense attorney Alan Jackson’s exit from defending Nick in parents Rob and Michele’s murder trial on Wednesday, saying in a statement to the New York Times that they “trust in the legal process.”
“They have the utmost trust in the legal process and will not comment further on matters related to the legal proceedings,” a spokesperson for the family said.
The statement came Wednesday morning after Nick Reiner’s scheduled arraignment was abruptly disrupted as Jackson requested to withdraw from the case. Nick’s arraignment was pushed until Feb. 23 as Judge Theresa McGonigle supported the request and assigned the Public Defenders’ Office to take over.
The 32-year-old made his second court appearance since Dec. 17’s indictment behind glass, according to the AP — just two days after he was taken off suicide watch after his parents were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Dec. 14.
Nick has been in custody on two counts of first-degree murder after being arrested later that night and charged on Dec. 16. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office previously determined Rob and Michele’s deaths were due to “multiple sharp force injuries.”
Nick’s siblings Jake and Romy Reiner issued a family statement shortly after their parents’ murders and their brother’s arrest: “Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day. The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.
“We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life,” they continued. “We now ask for respect and privacy, for speculation to be tempered with compassion and humanity, and for our parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave.”
