Nick Reiner’s Former Attorney Says He ‘Dropped Everything’ to Work on Murder Case, Shares Moment He Found Out About Killings

Nick Reiner‘s former attorney, Alan Jackson, is speaking out about the moment he and his team “dropped everything” to work on the high-profile murder case.

While speaking on a live episode of the Hot Mics with Billy Bush podcast, which aired on Monday, Jan. 12, Jackson — who announced his decision to withdraw from Nick’s case on Jan. 7 — recalled getting the call while he was in New York in the “very, very early morning hours of [Dec] 15th.”

“It was just hours into the circumstances,” Jackson continued.

The lawyer said he was “aware” of the case when he received the call, but “only within minutes,” after news emerged that Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, had been killed on Sunday, Dec. 14. Nick has been charged with stabbing his parents to death.

Jackson said he’d been “deeply, deeply invested” in the case he was out in New York for at the time, so he had been focusing on that.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, Jackson appeared at Nick’s initial court appearance on Jan. 7 following his arrest. However, he withdrew from the case as Nick was set to be arraigned on murder charges connected to the killings. Nick will now be represented by a public defender named Kimberly Greene.

Jackson told Bush on Monday’s podcast episode that he couldn’t go into much further detail than he did during the press conference following his withdrawal from the case.

However, he did say during the episode that he and his entire team “dropped everything” to work on the case.

“I have to show fealty and loyalty to the confidentiality that attends that kind of phone call … I can tell you that immediately thereafter, I dropped everything. I sent out a notice to my team here back in Los Angeles … I got on a flight nearly immediately,” he said on the podcast, after Bush questioned whether it had been a family member on the other end of the phone.

He declined to reveal why he stepped away from the case, saying it was due to “confidential communication,” and brushed off Bush’s questions about whether it was over money.

“You can’t say that something happened with the retainer because I’ve never said that,” Jackson insisted.

“Obviously, something happened with my ability, and my team’s ability, to continue the representation, but I don’t want you, your audience, anybody else to start speculating as to what that might be. I have not said a word about it,” he added.

Reiterating his previous comments about Nick being “not guilty” of murder, Jackson said, “I have a lot of faith in the public defender’s office. I have a lot of faith in Kimberly Greene. I have a lot of faith in their representation. They’re outstanding, outstanding legal professionals.”

“I was doing a favor to the truth. We [had] worked at that time, it was about three weeks almost to the day, we had worked tirelessly. Nearly every waking hour, our entire team, and you, saw the team behind me,” he added, saying that nearly his “whole firm” had been commissioned on the case.

“It was important for me to right some wrongs that had been printed, lots of speculation, lots of people who want to believe certain things,” the lawyer continued.

“And so that with that statement, that’s as far as I’m going to go, I believe in it. I believe exactly what I said. What I said is the truth … under the laws of the state of California, he’s not guilty,” Jackson concluded.

Jackson also appeared on Kelly Ripa‘s Let’s Talk Off Camera on Tuesday, Jan. 13, again declining to go into detail regarding the change in counsel.

He said his team will “always be committed to [Nick’s] best interests,” adding, “I want him to get the most robust defense that he possibly can get. I know he will, in the hands of the public defender’s office.”

Ripa then asked Jackson how he argues cases that could be deemed “indefensible.”

“There’s very little in the law that’s indefensible,” Jackson said. “There’s a reason for that. I never approach a case like I’m just defending an individual.”

“We’re defending the Constitution,” the high-profile attorney explained. “We’re defending an idea. We’re defending the foundation on which this country was built in terms of its justice system.”

Jackson noted that the U.S. justice system grants people their “God-given right” of liberty that is “built into the fabric of our country.” But, he said, the justice system can remove someone’s liberty, calling it an “almost unthinkable” action.

“There are certain circumstances in which it’s absolutely appropriate,” he clarified. “I don’t have a problem with that, if it’s done perfectly.”

He continued by noting that with that approach, “I don’t worry about who the person is,” because “the word indefensible never comes up,” adding, “It’s completely defensible, no matter who the person is, if the government doesn’t get it right.”

Jackson acknowledged that in certain circumstances, mental health is a factor, clarifying that he was speaking generally, and not about Nick’s case.

“We don’t punish in this country. We’re very civilized. We try to be civilized,” he said, before adding that the justice system will punish criminal conduct “where there’s an intent element.”

“The system is built to accommodate that, to address that,” Jackson explained, referencing the idea of the not guilty by reason of insanity defense. He said it’s for a defendant who has a mental illness, “cannot form an intent,” and doesn’t “understand the character and quality of [their] conduct.”

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.