Mistrial declared in Palisades fire arson case, a stunning blow to feds

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Set us as preferred A mistrial was declared Friday in the federal trial of a 30-year-old former Uber driver accused of setting what would become the deadliest wildfire in Los Angeles history.Jonathan Rinderknecht was on trial for destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.But on Friday, the 13th day of trial, U.S.

District Judge Anne Hwang declared a mistrial after the jurors said they were unable to reach a verdict on any of the felony charges, with a final vote of 10 to 2 for acquittal.“The court finds there’s a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial in this case due to a jury deadlock,” Hwang said.First Asst.U.S.

Atty.Bill Essayli said his office would retry the case in a tweet.“The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025, which eventually became the Palisades fire.

We fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain guilty verdicts on all charged counts.”Defense attorney Steve Haney said the jury “was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt … and it wasn’t even close”“10 to 2 is a pretty resounding indication of what the jury felt about this case and we felt that way from the very beginning.”Jurors first indicated that they were at an impasse on Thursday afternoon, after deliberating for more than 13 hours.The jury had initially indicated they’d reached a unanimous verdict, but in a follow up note said they were at “a standstill” and “unsure how to proceed.”During the trial, prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses, who painted a picture of a man spiraling mentally and seeking vengeance against the wealthy when he hiked to a clearing overlooking Pacific Palisades and allegedly used a lighter to set the Lachman fire last New Year’s Day.Pros...