Federal Jury Deadlocks Jonathan Rinderknecht Arson Trial Over Palisades Fire

A federal jury in downtown Los Angeles deadlocked in the arson trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old former Uber driver accused of igniting the Lachman fire that later erupted into the Palisades Fire.

“LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- After previously stating they had reached a verdict, a jury is now deadlocked in the arson trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man accused of setting what eventually became the Palisades Fire”

ABC

After more than 13 hours of deliberations, the jury told U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang it was at a standstill and could not reach a unanimous verdict, sending a note at 2:30 p.m. that said, “We have people on both sides that are deadset,”.

ABC

In a subsequent note read shortly after 3:20 p.m., the jury wrote, “Unfortunately we cannot reach a unanimous verdict,” and was instructed to return to court at 9 a.m. Friday.

Prosecutors alleged Rinderknecht used a lighter to ignite a small brush fire around midnight on Dec. 31, 2024, and that the Lachman fire smoldered underground for a week before exploding into the Palisades fire on Jan. 7, 2025.

The Palisades fire later killed 12 people and destroyed 6,500 structures, according to the Los Angeles Times account of the trial’s stakes and impact.

Prosecutors told jurors Rinderknecht “maliciously” set the initial Lachman Fire, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Danbee Kim argued he had “a deeply entrenched belief that the wealthy were destroying the world,”.

Defense attorney Steve Haney argued the government lacked proof that “the lighter ignited the fire,” telling the jury, “They don’t have any evidence at all that Jonathan started a fire on that hill with a lighter.”

CBS News

Witness testimony during the trial included a Palisades resident describing teens leaving the hill acting “boastful,” and a Los Angeles firefighter describing flashes of light and loud noises that sounded like fireworks around midnight.

The defense also emphasized that the scene was not secured to preserve evidence, with Haney arguing that evidence “probably was lost during the fire suppression efforts used on the Palisades fire.”

Prosecutors countered that “there was no evidence of any fireworks in the area that night,” and said Rinderknecht was “the only one there and he was in the specific origin area when the fire was visible from up to five miles away.”

With the jury unable to reach unanimity on all counts, the trial’s next steps hinge on whether the impasse becomes a mistrial, as the jury was sent back to deliberate after its notes to Judge Anne Hwang.

“Jurors in the federal trial of Palisades Fire suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht have concluded their second day of deliberations and will return Friday after they initially said they are at a standstill and could not reach a unanimous verdict”

CNN

The Los Angeles Times reported that the jury said it could not reach a unanimous verdict on any of the three felony charges, and that the panel was instructed to return to court at 9 a.m. Friday.

NBC News reported that after two days of deliberations the jury told the court it was at an impasse and unable to reach a unanimous decision, and that Judge Hwang rejected a defense request for an Allen charge.

Rinderknecht faces three federal charges—destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire—and if convicted, officials said he could face up to 45 years in federal prison.

The trial record described prosecutors placing him at the ignition point using “security video, cellphone data and his own digital trail,” while the defense argued the case was about “cause and integrity” and that “You’re not to convict a man if you don’t like him.”