“Nick, or whoever hired (Alan Jackson), they didn’t bring him in to defend him,” said former federal prosecutor Neema Rahmani. “They brought him in to try this case. That’s his job.”
Nick Reiner charged with murder in death of parents
Nick Reiner faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner.
The son of Rob and Michelle Reiner has hired a prominent defense attorney whose past clients include former movie star Kevin Spacey and Karen Reed, whose murder trial captivated audiences across the country. Seasoned litigators say if anyone can exonerate Nick Reiner, it’s Alan Jackson.
Combining intense courtroom advocacy with a deft media touch, Mr. Jackson is known for winning big wins for his clients when other defense attorneys might try to close deals.
“My son has the best lawyer he can get,” said Mark Bedelow, a New York defense attorney and former prosecutor who closely followed the two trials against Reed. Reed was acquitted in June of murdering her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, after a 2024 mistrial.
“I cannot say enough about his skills as a criminal litigator,” Bedrow said. “He is, as you can see, a dedicated and passionate advocate for the accused.”
How Jackson became involved in the case of Nick Reiner, who is accused of murdering his parents, famed movie actor and director Rob Reiner, and his wife of 36 years, Michelle Reiner, remains a mystery. The prominent lawyer did not provide details or financial arrangements with Reiner, and did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on those questions.
But one thing is certain: Mr. Jackson is more likely than many others to maintain complete innocence. He fought for Reed’s outcome even though she faced a potential life sentence and other attorneys may have sought an agreement to plead guilty to lesser charges. He reviewed the accuser’s story and cell phone evidence to get prosecutors to drop criminal charges against Spacey for allegedly molesting an 18-year-old boy in 2019.
“Nick or whoever hired him, they didn’t bring him in to prosecute the case,” said Neema Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor. “They brought him in to try this case. That’s his job.”
Jackson’s ambitious approach to fighting charges
So far, Nick Reiner’s case looks very different from the situation faced by Karen Reed and Kevin Spacey.
Reed’s defense was exactly that of an “investigator.” She is accused of plowing into O’Keefe with her car, causing his death in the cold. But the defense suggested that various other people were involved in O’Keefe’s death and its cover-up. Mr. Jackson took the investigators in the case to court, accusing them of showing bias in favor of law enforcement officers who might be responsible.
In the Spacey case, Jackson examined cell phone evidence and deletions to undermine the alleged victim’s account. After Mr. Jackson had acrimonious exchanges with his accuser and her parents in court, the accuser exercised his constitutional right against self-incrimination and ceased testifying, and the case collapsed.
Mr. Bederow and Mr. Rahmani agreed that the defense strategy in Mr. Reiner’s case would likely be different, as previous reports suggested that law enforcement would have no difficulty proving that Reiner was involved in the gruesome death. He reportedly left his parents’ property and checked into a hotel around 4 a.m. PDT on Dec. 13, leaving blood on the bed and shower in his hotel room. The bodies of the parents were found within hours on the property where the son lived.
But Mr. Jackson could still explore strategies to pull Reiner out of the deep hole he was in, as he did with Mr. Reade and Mr. Spacey.
“If you look at Karen Reed, he could easily say, ‘Listen, this is not murder. This is just vehicular manslaughter,'” Rahmani said. “Instead, he insisted, ‘No, this was a cover-up. Her boyfriend John O’Keeffe was killed by the police, they left his body out in the cold, and they’re trying to frame her.’
“That’s the type of lawyer he is,” Rahmani added. “He’s going to go for a home run. He’s going to get acquitted.”
In Reiner’s case, Rahmani said a modest defense goal might be to get the case down from first-degree murder to second-degree murder by convincing prosecutors and jurors that the crime was not premeditated because of drug use or mental illness. With this type of conviction, Reiner could be eligible for parole within decades.
But that approach may not satisfy Jackson’s drive for big wins, Rahmani said. Rather, the goal could be to acquit Reiner based on claims of insanity or self-defense, or to reduce the case to manslaughter.
“I don’t necessarily think someone like Jackson would consider second-degree murder a win, and it’s just speculation at this point,” Rahmani said.
media savvy lawyer
Nick Reiner faces an uphill battle when it comes to the court of public opinion. He is accused of murdering the beloved celebrity Rob Reiner, who directed such classic films as “A Few Good Men” and “When Harry Met Sally.”
Rob Reiner and Michelle Reiner’s other two children, Romy Reiner and Jake Reiner, described their father and mother as “best friends” in statements.
According to interviews with Nick, Rob, and Michelle Reiner, his parents sent their son to more than a dozen rehab facilities when he was 15 years old to try to help him overcome his drug addiction. They were reportedly providing him with a home at the time of the alleged murder.
“The shocking nature of this is troubling, but also the victims are very sympathetic because the person accused of killing them is their son,” Bedrow said.
Still, Jackson showed remarkable skill in steering public opinion in the Karen Reed case. He gave multiple media interviews and often signaled to her supporters outside the Dedham courthouse in Massachusetts. By the time of her acquittal, a crowd of “Free Karen Reed” supporters, often dressed in pink, had almost surrounded the front side of the building.
“I have never seen a case where someone is accused of killing a police officer. All the support of the public is with the defendant,” Rahmani said.
Public opinion shouldn’t matter in an actual trial. Jurors must promise to set aside opinions they already have about the case, and can be disqualified if they appear biased during jury selection. The judge will instruct you not to read or watch anything related to the case during the trial.
Still, defense attorneys would much rather their clients be loved than hated by the public facing a high-profile trial.
“Some jurors watch the news, Google the case, and some are doing things they shouldn’t be doing,” Rahmani said. “And when you’re following a case and there are hundreds of Karen Reed supporters outside wearing pink, you know that can implicitly influence the jury.”
Mr. Jackson has already shown a willingness to defuse the public’s anger toward Nick Reiner and steer bystanders toward a more complex and nuanced picture.
“This is a devastating tragedy that has struck the Reiner family,” Jackson acknowledged in public remarks outside court on Dec. 17. But Mr Jackson urged the public not to rush to judgment or jump to conclusions, saying there were “very complex and serious issues” that needed to be “thoroughly but very carefully addressed, investigated, considered and analyzed”.
The on-camera speech may have been an attempt to allay public anger at the suspected murderer and begin to change what actually happened.
“He’s really trying to slow down the wave of bad publicity against his clients,” Rahmani said. “People say he’s a spoiled, rich, drug-addicted Nepo baby, right? He’s ungrateful and killed his parents. … So he’s trying to stop that.”
Bedlow said he was “essentially telegraphing to the public” that the defense team may be examining Nick Reiner for psychiatric issues related to the case.
Defense attorneys will sometimes say that they have no choice but to fly the plane they are given, rather than choosing the evidence in the case. In this case, it remains to be seen whether Jackson can pull off another dramatic victory.
But Bedrow said it’s not hard to see why Reiner hired Jackson to take on the job.
“You need a skilled attorney who is a strategist, a passionate advocate, a top-tier litigator, and has the ability to communicate in public. And Alan checks all those boxes,” he said.
