Schizophrenia, Changed Medications, and an Insanity Defense

Remember when defense attorney Alan Jackson stood outside the courthouse Wednesday and said there were "very, very complex and serious issues" with this case? We now know what he was talking about.

Nick Reiner has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

According to TMZ, citing two sources with direct knowledge, Nick was under the care of a psychiatrist for mental illness. He had recently been treated at a high-end Los Angeles rehab facility that specializes in mental health and substance abuse. The kind of place that costs $70,000 a month. The kind of place where wealthy parents send their struggling adult children when they don't know what else to do.

And here's the critical detail: three to four weeks before his parents were killed, doctors changed his medications.

Based on what we're hearing, an insanity defense is coming. That's the play. Nick's attorneys will likely argue he didn't understand the nature and quality of his actions when he allegedly killed Rob and Michele Reiner in their Brentwood bedroom.

The Complication

There's a catch, and it's a significant one.

Sources say Nick's schizophrenia was exacerbated by substance abuse. If that's the case, prosecutors will almost certainly argue that willingly taking drugs is like being a drunk driver. You can't commit a crime while intoxicated by your own choice and then claim you didn't know what you were doing.

This is going to be the fight. Did the mental illness cause the violence, or did the substance abuse? Was it the disease, or was it the choice to use? These lines blur in messy, tragic ways when addiction and mental illness intersect. Any defense attorney will tell you that. Any prosecutor will too.

How Nick Is Now

As for Nick Reiner himself? TMZ reports he's spending his days at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility "in a fog." Sources describe him as "calm," "cognizant," and "dazed." He hasn't processed what happened. Not even close.

That's consistent with someone heavily medicated for a serious psychiatric condition. It's also consistent with someone in shock after a devastating trauma. Whether that trauma is what he witnessed or what he allegedly did, the result looks the same from the outside.

The Trail of Evidence

Meanwhile, the physical evidence continues to emerge.

New surveillance video shows Nick walking toward the Pierside Hotel in Santa Monica around 4 AM on December 14th. He's wearing a black backpack and a hat. Same outfit from earlier footage at a Brentwood gas station. No visible blood on him when he checked in.

But when housekeeping entered his room later Sunday morning? The shower was "full of blood." Blood on the bed. Windows covered with bedsheets.

LAPD Robbery-Homicide detectives searched the hotel room Monday morning, looking for the murder weapon and any evidence Nick may have tried to dispose of. We don't know yet if they found anything.

What About Michele's Final Words?

I wrote earlier this week about the conflicting reports regarding whether Michele Reiner was alive when her daughter Romy found her. Whether Michele identified Nick as her attacker before she died. A potential dying declaration that could be devastating at trial.

We still don't have confirmation either way. The LAPD isn't commenting on specifics. The official cause of death for both Rob and Michele is now confirmed as "multiple sharp force injuries." Beyond that, investigators are keeping the details close.

If prosecutors have a dying declaration, we'll find out. If they don't, the physical evidence and the circumstantial case will have to do the work.

The Inheritance Question

One more thing worth noting. If Nick Reiner is convicted, he won't see a dime of his parents' estate. California's slayer statute prevents that. Under the law, you can't profit from killing someone. Simple as that.

Trustees of the Reiner estate won't be advancing any funds for Nick's defense either. Not while he's accused of murdering the people whose money it was.

Whatever defense Alan Jackson mounts, it won't be paid for by Rob and Michele Reiner's fortune.

What We're Watching

The January 7th arraignment will tell us a lot. Will Jackson immediately raise mental competency issues? Will he "declare a doubt" about Nick's ability to understand the proceedings against him? Legal analyst Mark Geragos, who represents the Menendez brothers, suggested that's exactly what will happen.

If Nick is found incompetent to stand trial, the criminal case pauses while he receives treatment. The goal would be restoring him to competency so the case can proceed. That could take months. Maybe longer.

If he's found competent, we move toward trial. And the insanity defense becomes the central question: Did Nick Reiner know what he was doing on December 14th?

A Hollywood legend and his wife are dead. Their son is in a psychiatric fog in an LA jail. Their surviving children are grieving parents who were also their best friends. And the legal system will now spend months, maybe years, trying to determine what Nick Reiner understood in the early morning hours when his parents' lives ended.

This is tragedy built on tragedy. Mental illness, substance abuse, a family that tried everything, and an ending no one could have wanted.

We continue watching.