The jury deciding the fate of the man accused of setting the deadly Palisades fire became deadlocked, with the judge declaring a mistrial.
Jonathan Rinderknecht was accused of igniting the Lachman fire above the Pacific Palisades in 2025, the Los Angeles Times reported. The fire killed 12 people and destroyed 6,500 buildings.
The jury deliberated for two days but was unable to reach a verdict, The Associated Press reported.
Ten jurors were set to issue a not-guilty verdict while two others were voting to convict, according to the AP.
“We have people on both sides that are dead set, unwavering and unwilling to change their opinion,” the jury told the judge in a note.
Rinderknecht faced charges of arson, malicious destruction by means of a fire and timber set aflame. He pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said he set a fire on Jan. 1, 2025, but burned for a week undetected, flaring up after a week, and started the Palisades Fire on Jan 7, 2025.
They did not have direct evidence that Rinderknecht started the first fire, but prosecutors said he was in the area and was angry and erratic that night, giving the possible motive that he was upset with people whom he thought were rich and powerful, the AP reported.
Rinderknecht’s defense was that fireworks more than likely started the fire.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, posted to X that he will retry the case before a new jury.
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.
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) June 26, 2026
The judge ordered that Rinderknecht be held until October, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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