Judge Rules Mistrial In Deadly Palisades Fire Case
A federal judge ruled a mistrial Friday in the arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht, who was accused of lighting what ultimately grew into the deadly Palisades Fire in January 2025.
The judge’s decision came after the jury announced that they could not reach a verdict in the case, ABC7 reported. The jury was reportedly deadlocked, with two voting guilty and 10 not guilty. First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli vowed to retry the case in a post Friday on X. Rinderknecht was arrested and charged in October 2025.
“The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderhnecht 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,” he wrote.
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An affidavit alleged that law enforcement concluded the Palisades fire was a “holdover” from the previous Lachman blaze, which was sparked early on New Year’s Day 2025, according to an October 2025 statement from the Justice Department. Firefighters dealt with the Lachman fire, but it allegedly simmered underground inside dense vegetation. Severe winds caused the fire to surface and expand above ground on January 7, 2025, according to the DOJ. The fire led to the deaths of 12 individuals as well as the destruction of approximately 6,500 structures, the Los Angeles Times reported.
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