Mistrail declared for accused Palisades Fire arsonist Jonathan Rinderknecht

A mistrial has been declared in the trial of the accused arsonist charged with sparking the deadly Palisades Fire.Jurors were called to a Los Angeles federal court room Friday where they were asked a series of questions about their inability to come to a conclusion in the trial.All jurors agreed they could not come to a decision, and a mistrial was declared.In a bizarre twist Thursday, the jury first told the court it had reached a unanimous decision just after 2 p.m.

but then told the court they were at a stand still around 2:30 p.m.Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, was indicted last October on one count of destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire. The three felony counts were tied to starting the Lachman Fire, a 2025 New Year’s blaze that was doused by firefighters only for it to survive underground and spark the deadly Palisades Fire a week later.  California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.Please provide a valid email.

By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story Prosecutors said Rinderknecht lit the fire on a hiking trail he had been to “hundreds of times” in the Pacific Highlands using a green Bic lighter investigators found in his car three weeks after the fire.The Palisades Fire leveled 7,000 homes and businesses, caused $150 billion in damages and left 12 people dead.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was overseas in Ghana when the fire started despite heavy wind warnings in the days leading up to the blaze.“There’s no outcome that affects the culpability of our leadership.Nothing can be decided in this case that changes the gross negligence that occurred on January 7, 2025.

I believe the city and state would love to have a scapegoat to point to and blame everything on,” Palisades resident Jeremy Padawer told The Calif...