A petition filed in a Los Angeles County court on Monday by Nick Reiner's civil attorneys seeks unpaid money from a trust his parents established for him, arguing that he needs the funds to mount his defense against charges that he killed them. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The petition says that trustees overseeing the funds have denied them to him without legal justification, and he needs and should get them now.
"Nick loved his parents, and he is devastated by their deaths. But the facts about what did and did not happen to them are not at issue in this Trust litigation," the petition says. "Like anyone accused of a crime, Nick is presumed innocent, and he is entitled to mount his defense with the resources that are lawfully his own."
The director and Hollywood luminary Rob Reiner and his wife, photographer and producer Michele Singer Reiner, were stabbed to death in their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles on Dec. 14. Nick Reiner was arrested hours later and has since pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.
Reiner initially retained high-profile private lawyer Alan Jackson, but less than a month later Jackson left the case for reasons he said he couldn't share. The new filing reveals that Reiner's siblings, Jake and Romy Reiner, had initially agreed to pay for Jackson, but reversed course.
In a declaration included with the petition, Jackson said "my firm stands ready, willing, and able to resume representation of Mr. Reiner" if the funds become available.
The filing says that apart from the larger Reiner family trust, which is not at issue, the trust in question is separate.