Nick Reinerthe former lawyer of Alan Jacksonexplained what happens when a person pleads insanity.
“There are very few things in the law that are indefensible and there’s a reason for that because I never approach a case like I’m just defending an individual,” Jackson said during his appearance on the Tuesday, January 13, episode. Kelly RipaIt is 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 from the defense side, I go into the case and my entire team is trained to intervene in the case, knowing full well that we are defending something bigger than the individual,” he continued. “We are defending the Constitution, we are defending an idea, we are defending the idea, the basis on which this country was built in terms of the justice system.
He added: “We don’t live in a system where you’re sort of ready, shoot, aim. You think someone’s done something, so you throw them in jail and somewhere down the line you might put them on trial. That’s not how our system works.”
Nick Reiner’s attorney, Alan Jackson, has shockingly resigned as a representative for the trial of the murders of his parents Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner — and attorneys are wondering why that might have happened. During Nick’s court appearance on Wednesday, January 7, Jackson revealed that he had withdrawn from the case. Because of […]
Jackson was first hired as Nick’s lawyer in his parents’ murder case, Rob Reiner And Michele Singer Reiner. Nick was arrested after the couple was found dead in their Brentwood, California, home after apparently being stabbed. Rob was 78 years old while Michele was 70.
Earlier this month, Jackson announced during Nick’s audition that he resign of the case. A public defender was chosen to replace him. Jackson has repeatedly stated that he was ethically prohibited from revealing the reason he left the case.
“I am prohibited, legally and ethically, from explaining all the reasons for this. I know this is an issue that concerns everyone,” he told reporters outside the courthouse. “We expect the public defender to step in, he has already been appointed and is very carefully protecting Nick Reiner’s interests as he progresses through the system.”
On Tuesday, the lawyer explained that he takes individuals’ civil liberties “very seriously.” He also touched on the topic of defending someone who is dealing with mental health issues or a health issue. (Nick, who had publicly struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues, was taken off suicide watch on Jan. 5 following his arrest.)
“It doesn’t matter who the person is, if the government doesn’t do things right. And in some circumstances, there are mental health issues. I’m not talking about Nick’s case, just in general,” he shared. “As you said, the central question was what defenses do citizens, any citizen, have. One thing we don’t do is punish sick people for their illness.”
Jackson explained that as an individual living in a civilized society, it is crucial that someone “only punishes criminal conduct when there is an element of intent.”
“If you have a mental illness, such that you cannot form intention, you do not understand the character and quality of your conduct, etc., then a system is built to account for that and to address that and that is the defense of not guilty by reason of insanity,” he said. “So in those circumstances, a lot of people have talked about it, Kelly, what does that mean? ‘Oh, does that mean you go to a psychiatrist for 10 minutes and then you’re released?’ No, that doesn’t mean that at all. The system is designed to handle this.
According to Jackson, this means a person goes to “a state psychiatric hospital” and stays there until “the illness or disease is resolved.”
Ripa then asked if this was the same logic a lawyer would use if his client was seeking 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 former client should be convicted of first-degree murder. “I am legally and ethically prohibited from explaining all the reasons why, I know this is an issue that everyone is concerned about,” Jackson told reporters on Wednesday, January 7, after recusing himself from the case. “We expect the public defender […]
“The procedure is: you plead guilty, you still go through a guilt phase, which is just a standard trial of whether or not the defendant is responsible, legally responsible for someone else’s death or the conduct in question,” he said. “Only if the jury finds it unanimously guilty, then you move on to a penalty phase which may include an NGI, in other words, the jury then decides, separate party in a split 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 “didn’t realize that a person had to ‘go through a whole trial’ and Jackson clarified that it was ‘two whole trials.’
Jackson too reiterated why he cannot provide further information on why he decided to withdraw from the case.
“Everyone has the same looming question, and I have to because of legal standards and ethical obligations; there are some things I just can’t disclose, Kelly,” he said Tuesday. “As far as why there was a change in counsel, why we withdrew and the public defender’s office stepped in and I will reiterate what I said at the press conference, which is that my team, me personally and my team, remain completely and totally committed to Nick’s best interests. We will always be committed to his best interests. I only want the best for him and I want him to get the strongest defense possible. And I know he does. will be in the hands of the public defender’s office.
