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Nick Reiner’s former lawyer, Alan Jackson, broke down what happens when a person pleads insanity.
“There’s very little in the law that’s indefensible and there’s a reason for that because I never approach a case like I’m just defending an individual,” Jackson said while appearing on the Tuesday, January 13, episode of Kelly Ripa’s SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Talk Off Camera,” just six days after the attorney withdrew from Reiner’s legal team.
“Every time I approach a case on the defense side, I walk into the case and my entire team, they’re all trained to walk into the case knowing full well that we’re defending something bigger than the individual,” he continued. “We’re defending the constitution, we’re defending an idea, we’re defending the idea, the foundation of which this country was built in terms of its justice system.
He added, “We don’t live in a system in which you sort of ready, fire, aim. You think somebody did something, so you throw them in jail and somewhere down the road you might give them a trial. It’s not the way our system works.”
Jackson was initially hired as Nick’s attorney in the case of the murder of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. Nick was arrested after the couple were found dead in their Brentwood, California, home after suffering from apparent stab wounds. Rob was 78 while Michele was 70.
Earlier this month, Jackson announced during Nick’s hearing that he was stepping down from the case. A public defender has been selected as his replacement. Jackson has stated on multiple occasions he is ethically prohibited from revealing the reason why he exited the case.
“I’m legally and I’m ethically prohibited from explaining all the reasons why, I know that’s a question on everyone’s mind,” he told reporters outside the courthouse. “We expect the public defender to step in, they’ve already been appointed and very carefully protect Nick Reiner’s interests as he moves forward through the system.”
On Tuesday, the lawyer explained that he takes a person’s civil liberties “very seriously.” He also broached the topic of defending a person who has struggled with mental health issues or a medical condition. (Nick, who had publicly struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues, was taken off suicide watch on January 5 following his arrest.)
“No matter who the person is, if the government doesn’t get it right. And in certain circumstances, there are mental health issues. I’m not talking about Nick’s case, just in general,” he shared. “Like you said, sort of the call of the questions was what are some defenses that are available to citizens, just any citizen. One thing we don’t do is we don’t punish the sick for being sick.”
Jackson explained that as individuals who live in a civilized society, it is crucial that someone is “only punish criminal conduct where there’s an intent element.”
“If you have a mental illness, such that you cannot form an intent, you don’t understand the character and quality of your conduct, etcetera, then a system is built to accommodate that and to address that and that is the not guilty by reason of insanity defense,” he said. “So in that circumstance, a lot of people have talked about it, Kelly, what does that mean? ‘Oh, does that mean you go to a psychiatrist for 10 mins and then you’re released?’ No it doesn’t mean that at all. The system is built to treat that.”
According to Jackson, that means a person goes to “a state mental hospital” and remains there until the “sickness or that illness is resolved.”
Ripa then asked if that is the same logic a lawyer would use if their client was looking to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Jackson then explained the process specifically in California.
Nick Reiner’s former attorney, Alan Jackson, doesn’t believe his one-time client should be convicted of first-degree murder. “I’m legally and I’m ethically prohibited from explaining all the reasons why, I know that’s a question on everyone’s mind,” Jackson told reporters on Wednesday, January 7, after stepping down from the case. “We expect the public defender […]
“The procedure is as follows, you enter the plea, you still go through a guilt phase, which is just standard trial on whether or not the defendant is responsible for and liable for, legally liable for the death of somebody else or the conduct in question,” he said. “Only if the jury comes back unanimously as guilty, then you go to a penalty phase which that penalty phase can include an NGI in other words the jury then decides, separate part in a bifurcated proceeding, the same jury decides whether or not you are sane or insane at the time of the conduct for which you are convicted.”
Kelly shared that she “did not realize that” a person has to “go through an entire trial” and Jackson clarified that it is “two entire trials.”
Jackson also reiterated why he can’t give more insight into why he decided to exit the case.
“Everybody’s got that same looming question, and I am compelled because of legal standards and ethical obligations; there’s certain things I simply can’t divulge, Kelly,” he said on Tuesday. “In terms of why there was a change in counsel, why we stepped away and the public defenders office stepped in and I will reiterate what I said in the press conference, which is, my team, me personally and my team, remain completely and utterly committed to Nick’s best interest. We always will be committed to his best interests. I want nothing but the best for him and I want him to get the most robust defense that he possibly can get. And I know he will in the hands of the public defender’s office.”
