Nick Reiner has asked a court to let him reach into a family trust worth about $1.5 million so he can pay for his defense in the murder case against him. The filing says he could not hire attorney Alan Jackson without the money, and that Jackson later withdrew, leaving Reiner dependent on a public defender.
The petition lands while Reiner, 32, faces two counts of first degree murder and four other felonies in the deaths of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. Prosecutors allege he fatally stabbed them after an argument at a celebrity Christmas party hosted by Conan O’Brien last year before fleeing the scene, a charge he has not been convicted of and fights under the presumption of innocence.
At the center of the request is money the filing says was set aside for Reiner years ago. His parents established smaller individual trusts for him and his siblings, and the petition says the terms were clear: he was to receive half the money when he turned 30 and the rest at 35. Instead, the filing says he never received the funds he was due at 30, even though the trust now has at least $1.5 million in assets.
The trustee overseeing the funds since February, attorney Paul R. Kanin, is accused in the filing of giving a shifting series of excuses and justifications for keeping the money out of Reiner’s hands. The petition says Kanin has refused to share the exact value of the trust and indicated the funds would not be released until Reiner’s guilt or innocence had been established in court. Reiner’s lawyers say that position is out of step with the trust’s plain terms and with the urgent need to prepare a defense now.
The filing also puts Reiner’s personal loss into stark relief. It says he loved his parents and is devastated by their deaths, even as he is accused in the case. It argues that he is entitled to use resources that are lawfully his own and warns that every week of delay keeps the counsel of his choice from investigating and preparing. The next move rests with the Los Angeles County Court, which will decide whether the trust money can be released before the murder case is resolved.
