LOS ANGELES — A judge on Wednesday delayed Nick Reiner’s arraignment in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, after his high-profile defense attorney asked to be replaced by a public defender.
Judge Theresa McGonigle agreed to attorney Alan Jackson’s request during a hearing where Nick Reiner was expected to be arraigned and enter a plea. Jackson did not say why he wanted to leave the case.
McGonigle then delayed arraignment until Feb. 23.
During his brief appearance in a Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Nick Reiner wore brown jail garb and with his hair shaved. His appearance came 3 1/2 weeks after the beloved actor-director and his wife of 36 years were found dead with stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles.
McGonigle approved the use of cameras inside the courtroom but said pictures could not be taken of the defendant.
Nick Reiner, 32, the third of Rob Reiner’s four children, has been held without bail since his arrest last month, hours after his parents were found dead. He was charged two days later with two counts of first-degree murder.
He also did not enter a plea during a brief first court appearance Dec. 17, when he wore shackles and a suicide prevention smock. He was not wearing that smock Wednesday.
Jackson had given no indication of the plans for his defense. Before the judge took him off the case, Jackson told the judge there were 10 outstanding subpoenas in the defense’s investigation. The judge sealed the list of people and agreed it did not yet need to be shared with the prosecution.
Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene was assigned as Nick Reiner’s new attorney.
A decade ago, Nick Reiner publicly discussed his struggles with addiction and mental health after making a movie with his father, “Being Charlie,” that was very loosely based on their lives.
Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were killed early on the morning of Dec. 14, and they were found in the late afternoon, authorities said. The LA County Medical Examiner said in initial findings that they died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” but released no other details, and police have said nothing about possible motives.
Jackson is a former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. After the initial Reiner hearing, Jackson called the case “a devastating tragedy.” He said the proceedings will be very complex and asked that the circumstances be met “not with a rush to judgment.”
The counts against Reiner come with special circumstances of multiple murders and an allegation that he used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.
Prosecutors have said they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.
The prosecution is being led by Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.
Rob Reiner was a prolific director whose work included some of the most memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s. His credits included “This is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “A Few Good Men,” and “When Harry Met Sally,” during whose production he met Michele Singer, a photographer, and married her soon after.