During Nick Reiner’s arraignment on Monday, February 23, in which he pleaded not guilty to the murder of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, prosecutors provided a very crucial update.
According to PEOPLE, they revealed that they have not yet received the results of the couple’s autopsies.
This comes after the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed in a statement in December that they received a court order preventing the release of the reports.
Rob and Michele were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on Sunday, December 14, with Nick being arrested and charged with first-degree murder the following day.
Nick Reiner Pleads Not Guilty
GettyDuring his arraignment, Nick pleaded NOT GUILTY to the murder of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner. Nick’s mental status at the time of the murders is expected to play a factor in his defense, but it’s unclear at this time if he will seek an insanity defense.
Specifically, Nick entered not guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder and was denied bail.
Nick Reiner’s Mental Health Expected To Impact Trial
According to Variety, there was no mention of Nick’s “mental state during the brief hearing,” in which he pleaded not guilty.
This comes as a bit of a surprise, as there have been numerous reports regarding Nick’s mental state leading up to the murders. Specifically, The New York Times reported in January that he was placed in a mental health conservatorship that began in 2020 and ended in 2021. To be placed in a conservatorship, a judge has to determine that a person is “a ‘grave disability,’ meaning he was unable to provide for his basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter as a result of a mental health disorder.”
Specifically, he was placed under an L.P.S. (Lanterman-Petris-Short) conservatorship, which “typically originates from an involuntary psychiatric hospitalization and are initiated by a doctor.”
TMZ also provided an interesting update about Nick’s mental status in jail, saying that he “doesn’t understand why he’s in jail.”
Sources described him as “delusional and believes the people who put him behind bars are engaged in a ‘conspiracy’ against him.”
