Palisades Fire Suspect
Hung Jury Results in Mistrial
Published
A jury couldn’t reach a decision in the federal arson trial against Jonathan Rinderknecht — the man accused of starting the Palisades fire in L.A. last year — and the judge declared a mistrial.
It was 10-2 vote in favor of a not guilty verdict, but the 2 outliers weren’t budging.
The jury started deliberations on Wednesday after about a 2-week trial, and initially indicated they’d unanimously reached verdicts in Rinderknecht’s 3 arson charges before changing course.
On Thursday, the jury indicated they reached a verdict, but later told the judge multiple jurors were divided on the decision and they were at an impasse. When court reconvened on Friday, they still hadn’t made up their mind … leading the judge to declare a mistrial.
Rinderknecht was arrested and indicted back in October, after the DOJ accused him of “maliciously” starting a fire near the Pacific Palisades on New Year’s Day 2025.
Prosecutors say he started a brush fire that firefighters had initially snuffed out … claiming it reignited days later and devastated entire neighborhoods.
Rinderknecht was charged with 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.
Prosecutors say they intend to retry Rinderknecht.
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