Overview
- High-profile attorney Alan Jackson stepped off the case at a Jan. 7 hearing, and the court appointed public defender Kimberly Greene.
- Jackson told reporters he believes Nick Reiner is not guilty under California law but said he was legally and ethically barred from explaining his withdrawal.
- Legal analysts say the most likely explanations for the exit are funding issues or a conflict of interest, though no reason has been confirmed.
- TMZ and other outlets report, citing unnamed sources, that doctors changed Reiner’s schizoaffective medications weeks before the killings, a claim that could underpin an insanity defense but has not been verified in court records.
- Reiner remains charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a multiple-murder special circumstance; prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty, and some reports say his siblings oppose it.