As he stands accused of killing his own parents, Nick Reiner wants to use money they set aside for him to pay for a well-known defense attorney and more, according to multiple reports.
Nick, 32, was charged with killing his parents – Hollywood power couple Rob and Michele Reiner – in a brutal stabbing in late December of last year and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He had a long history of struggles with drug addiction and mental illness, and his parents reportedly tried to get him help for years.
After he was accused of murdering his parents, Nick hired famous criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson, who represented Harvey Weinstein, to represent him. However, Jackson withdrew from the case soon after, leaving Nick to be represented by a public defender.
In a petition filed this Monday, Nick and his trust lawyer claimed that a $1.7 million trust fund was established for the accused killer when he was born, according to Rolling Stone. Per the petition, Nick was supposed to receive the first half when he turned 30 in 2023, followed by the second when he turns 35, and it has “unambiguous instructions” for doling the money out.
“Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths," Reiner’s lawyers say, as quoted by USA Today. "But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this Trust litigation. Nick's criminal defense attorneys will present those facts in the criminal case; this Petition neither requires nor invites this Court to weigh in on them. Like anyone accused of a crime, Nick is presumed innocent, and he is entitled to mount his defense with the resources that are lawfully his own."
Nick and his lawyer allege that the first half of the fund was not paid to him in 2023. They also explained that Nick wants access to the money to re-hire Jackson and to pay for items like socks and hygiene items in the prison commissary.
Jackson submitted a declaration along with the petition that said his firm “stands ready, willing and able,” to resume representation of Nick. It also included claims that a representative for the Reiner family contacted him after the murders to tell Jackson that Nick needed an attorney and that Nick’s siblings verbally agreed to act as third-party payors for their brother’s defense.
Jackson said he made it clear to Nick’s siblings that they would not have any authority to dictate the representation. He then clams to have met with Nick and began working on the case before a family representative informed Jackson that the third-party funding would not be provided.
According to Jackson, “continued private representation by my firm was no longer feasible,” without the funding.
Fortune noted that Nick’s trust has been under the control of attorney Paul Kanin since this February. The petition accuses Kanin of offering “a shifting series of excuses and justification” for keeping the money from Nick.
Rolling Stone’s report noted that Kanin has raised questions about Reiner’s mental competency and whether the “slayer statute” that bars people from benefitting from crimes could block Nick from the inheritance. It also reported that Kanin submitted his resignation last month and selected Jodi Montgomery (who once served as a court-appointed conservator for Britney Spears during the pop star’s conservatorship) to replace him – Reiner’s attorneys have reportedly rejected an offer to set up a meeting between Nick and Montgomery.
“Kanin and Montgomery did not immediately return requests for comment,” Rolling Stone said.
A preliminary hearing for Nick’s criminal case is scheduled for this September. He is facing charges on two counts of first degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders, along with a special allegation of using a dangerous and deadly weapon. Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Nick’s case was “death penalty eligible,” in February, but USA Today said the office has not decided whether to seek it as of this week.
