Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...The federal judge overseeing the trial of the man accused of igniting brush that became the massive and destructive Palisades fire declared a mistrial on Friday, June 26 after the jury insisted it could not reach a verdict on any of the three charges.
U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang polled the panel, asking each juror if more deliberations could thaw the deadlock.
When they answered that they would not, she declared a mistrial — setting the stage for a re-trial starting from scratch.
When asked about the jury’s opinions, the foreperson indicated that the jury was split 10 in favor of not guilty, two in favor of guilty. At least one juror cried.
“We fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain guilty verdicts on all charged counts,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X immediately after the mistrial was declared. “The evidence is strong.”
When he heard Essayli’s comments, defense attorney Steve Haney shot back.
“What he says doesn’t matter to me, he didn’t try the case,” Haney said. “Ten to two is a pretty resounding indication of what the jury felt about this case, and we felt that way from the beginning.
“The jury wasn’t convinced he committed these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt,” Haney said.
On Thursday, June 25, the jury told the judge that, after 13 hours of deliberations, it was at a standstill in the case against Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old ex-rideshare driver accused of starting the most destructive wildfire ever in Los Angeles. The judge sent jurors home for the evening.
But Friday morning, it was clear to her that no progress would be made, and the lawyers agreed.
Authorities say it all started with the Lachman fire on Jan. 1, 2025, which was believed extinguished by firefighters but actually smoldered underground for six days before kicking up and becoming the Palisades fire, named after the coastal community of Pacific Palisades. That second blaze burned charred 23,500 acres in that community, Malibu and elsewhere, killing 12 people and destroying or damaging more than 7,500 homes and businesses.
After two weeks of the government and defense presenting evidence, including testimony by a dozen-plus witnesses, and attorney arguments, the case was handed to the jury on Wednesday, June 24.
Rinderknecht was not charged with any of the deaths, which were not allowed to come up during the trial. The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on those decisions.
Rinderknecht decided against taking the stand.
Federal prosecutors have labeled Rinderknecht a malcontent, an arsonist enraged about wealth disparity and climate change, using his lighter on brush on a Hidden Buddha hillside around midnight.
“He went up a hill in a neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood he personally associated with his personal history with wealth and rejection. And when he went up that hill, he took this lighter with him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Danbee Kim said during her closing arguments, displaying a picture of a green, long-handled BIC lighter that the prosecution said Rinderknecht used to start the Lachman fire.
The defense argued that the fire could have been sparked by a firework, others could have been on the Hidden Buddha hill the night of the blaze and that the prosecution lacked evidence that Rinderknecht started the fire. His distaste for the wealthy is not an uncommon feeling in the country, his defense argued.
“Why was so much of this case about January 7, 2025?” Haney, Rinderknecht’s defense lawyer, said to the jury during his closing statements, referencing the day officials said the Palisades fire began. Haney called into question what he called a focus on the Palisades fire, while the charges against Rinderknecht are connected with the Lachman fire.
Haney also criticized the investigation’s start, which was 12 days after the Lachman fire, when the scene could have been affected by fire-suppression efforts, the Palisades fire burning the area for a second time, winds and hikers possibly entering the area.
The trial unfolded at the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez U.S. Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.
The Lachman fire was first reported spotted around 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025. It grew to 8 to10 acres before it was extinguished by firefighters. No evacuation orders were issued and no homes affected.
On Jan. 7, 2025, as Santa Ana winds whipped the region, the Palisades fire erupted and burned for more than three weeks, blazing across coast enclave.
Criticism has been leveled against the Los Angeles Fire Department for its role in the fire. Evidence pertaining to the Fire Department’s response was not permitted at the trial.
The Eaton fire, which erupted on the same day as the Palisades fire, killed 19 people, burned through more than 14,000 acres and damaged or destroyed over 10,000 homes and businesses in the San Gabriel Valley. A trial in that fire is scheduled for January 2027, when attorneys will seek to prove faulty equipment owned by Southern California Edison sparked the fire that devastated the Altadena area.