Rob Reiner's Son Loses Lawyer On Arraignment Day For Double Homicide: 'He's Cooked'

Things aren't looking good for Rob Reiner's son, Nick, as he loses a key part of his defense team.

Nick has been making headlines for weeks after he was arrested for the gruesome deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele. He is set to be arraigned on double homicide charges on Wednesday, January 7, but it didn't go as planned.

Rob Reiner and his longtime partner took their final breaths on December 14 in their Brentwood home. They were stabbed to death, with the authorities pinning the crime on their second son.

According to new reports, Nick's attorney Alan Jackson will appear in court on Wednesday not to defend his client but to announce his withdrawal from the case. Sources connected to the Reiner family broke the news of Jackson's sudden exit.

They claimed that he will no longer represent Nick, and the Reiner family will reveal the reason behind his departure once the arraignment ends. As for the alleged killer, he is set to be represented by a public defender for now.

Sources told TMZ that Nick will not enter a plea; however, it is unclear if the public defender will be his sole representative or a temporary replacement until another attorney picks up the case. Jackson's exit marks a significant loss for Nick, as he recently got Karen Read a not guilty verdict for murder.

Social media users had interesting reactions to Nick's situation on X, with many applauding Jackson for abandoning what they saw as a sinking ship. Someone believed the alleged killer cannot escape the murder charges without the famous attorney, writing, "He's cooked."

"Alan Jackson does not want to handle this case, because he knows that he will never win it," another claimed. A third echoed similar sentiments, suspecting Jackson withdrew from the case because he knew he could not pull another "jury nullification" victory like Read's murder trial.

"Nobody will want to take on this case," an X user predicted, with someone else wondering what caused Jackson to abandon Nick's case. The speculations continued, with an individual theorizing that the Reiner family didn't want to spend "millions" defending Nick in court.

Before Jackson sparked online curiosity with his exit, The Blast shared that Nick had finally escaped suicide watch behind bars. He was placed under heightened security following his arrest and detainment for his parents' deaths.

Nick had to wear a suicide-prevention smock at all times; however, he was no longer deemed a danger to himself. Instead of the smock, a Los Angeles County sheriff source revealed he would wear a yellow jail-issued shirt and blue trousers.

The source added that Nick still needed monitoring, with officials reportedly checking in on him every 15 minutes. They did so because Rob's son "is still considered to have mental health issues" and would remain in solitary confinement.

Last December, The Blast reported that a legal expert had weighed in on Nick's case and Jackson's possible move during the arraignment. Attorney Matt Murphy explained that Jackson's asking for a continuance for the arraignment date wasn't strange.

According to Murphy, Jackson was still in the discovery period and needed to cross-check all the facts before choosing to "plead not guilty" or submit a "guilty by reason of insanity plea." The latter option seemed to be what many suspected Nick's defense would do.

The insanity plea, per Cornell Law School, is an argument where a defendant admits to committing a crime but claims they aren't criminally responsible because of a severe mental illness. In Nick's case, he has been diagnosed with Schizophrenia, which was allegedly exacerbated by substance abuse.

Since Nick's arrest, there have been several theories about what could have led him to allegedly murder his parents. The Blast reported that Richard Taite, founder of Carrara Treatment, shared his thoughts on the situation and what he suspected went wrong.

According to Taite, Nick likely couldn't handle the pressure of his family's fame and fortune. His grandfather, Carl Reiner, was widely regarded as a "national treasure" before his father and mother continued his legacy with their achievements in the entertainment industry.

Nick might have felt like he wasn't living up to the Reiner name, leading to a years-long battle with substance addiction and repeated attempts to fix his ways. Taite suspected that Nick didn't get the proper treatment for his mental illness, eventually leading to the double murder case.

Will Rob Reiner's son get a new lawyer, or is he "cooked?"