Accused Palisades Fire starter pleads not guilty as second trial approaches

The man accused of sparking the devastating Palisades Fire pleaded not guilty Wednesday to reduced federal charges, weeks after the initial case against him ended in a mistrial.Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30 — who appeared in court dressed in a beige jumpsuit and sporting a beard with shackles around his waist — stood beside his attorney as he was asked if he understood the charges against him. “Yes,” the accused arsonist replied, saying he did not need to have the charges read aloud.

The first count against Rinderknecht accuses him of starting the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Day 2025, while the second count alleges he caused the destruction that followed when the blaze reignited and became the deadly Palisades Fire.A third count of setting timber on fire was dropped, after prosecutors announced the move last week.  Outside the court house, Rinderknecht’s attorney Steve Haney addressed the shift in strategy by the prosecution.“What are they going to do? They can’t go in and have the same trial after such an overwhelming statement from the jury,” he said of the earlier mistrial.“They changed their charging so they could change the playing field and have a better chance for conviction for the second trial, but I’m confident they will have the same challenges at the second trial that they had at the first,” he added.  During Rinderknecht’s initial trial in June, prosecutors tried to prove that the the suspect was indeed responsible for both fires.“I really felt like, ‘What are we doing here?’ You’re supposed to be presenting this case to me to convict that man, and I felt like that doesn’t make sense.

You’re making me feel like he’s more and more innocent with each fact,” one juror told reporters after the trial. That case ended with the jury deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal.Jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict despite being sent back to deliberate, with the foreman ultimately telling the judge there was nothi...