A mistrial has been declared in the trial of the accused arsonist charged with sparking the deadly Palisades Fire.
Jurors were called to a Los Angeles federal court room Friday where the foreman was asked a series of questions about the group’s inability to come to a conclusion in the trial.
Those questions included — Is it your considered opinion jurors can’t agree? Anything court can do to assist? Will they reach verdict if sent back?
The foreman answered no to all of the questions and a mistrial was declared.
In a bizarre twist Thursday, the jury first told the court it had reached a unanimous decision just after 2 p.m. but then told the court they were at a stand still around 2:30 p.m.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, was indicted last October on 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.
The three felony counts were tied to starting the Lachman Fire, a 2025 New Year’s blaze that was doused by firefighters only for it to survive underground and spark the deadly Palisades Fire a week later.
Prosecutors said Rinderknecht lit the fire on a hiking trail he had been to “hundreds of times” in the Pacific Highlands using a green Bic lighter investigators found in his car three weeks after the fire.
The Palisades Fire leveled 7,000 homes and businesses, caused $150 billion in damages and left 12 people dead. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was overseas in Ghana when the fire started despite heavy wind warnings in the days leading up to the blaze.
“There’s no outcome that affects the culpability of our leadership. Nothing can be decided in this case that changes the gross negligence that occurred on January 7, 2025. I believe the city and state would love to have a scapegoat to point to and blame everything on,” Palisades resident Jeremy Padawer told The California Post.
Padawer lost his home and a multi-million dollar Pokémon collection in the fire.
“This person had nothing to do with the lack of water, preparedness, poor brush clearance and limited emergency personnel,” he continued, turning the blame to city and state leaders.
“They (leaders) failed to learn anything in this very unnatural disaster,” he added.
During the two-week trial, Rinderknecht and his high-profile attorney Steve Haney watched prosecutors build their case largely around the defendant’s state of mind before the fire. Jurors were shown conversations Rinderknecht had with ChatGPT, which he allegedly used as a journal to vent about climate change and the wealthy.
The government also highlighted angry text messages sent to a girlfriend who declined to spend New Year’s Eve with him, as well as a music video from a French rapper he repeatedly played around the time of the fire that featured the musician burning objects.
“It’s a song about smoking a joint and drinking tea, not arson,” Haney argued in court.
Prosecutors acknowledged in opening statements that they had no footage showing Rinderknecht igniting a fire shortly after midnight on Jan. 1, 2025, relying instead on cellphone records and grainy surveillance video placing him near where the initial 9-acre blaze began.
Investigators testified that Rinderknecht called 911 several times in the early hours of New Year’s Day, shortly after the blaze began.
“There’s a fire, there’s a fire,” Rinderknecht could be heard saying in the 911 call. “There’s a fire a top of Pacific Palisades Highland.”
While speaking to a dispatcher, Rinderknecht screen-recorded the phone call, as well as him asking ChatGPT, “Are you at fault if a fire is lit because of your cigarettes.”
An investigator told the court that he considered the actions suspicious, saying it appeared the suspect was trying to create an “alternative reason for why the fire was started and have a record to show at a later period.”
Haney insisted prosecutors failed to prove Rinderknecht started the fire. “There is no evidence that he started the fire. This is all circumstantial,” he said.
Officials also testified that Rinderknecht was obsessed with Luigi Mangione, the man on trial for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and had routinely searched “free Luigi Mangione” and “lets take down all the billionaires” online, prosecutor said.
Officials said they spoke during his investigation with several of Rinderknecht’s Uber passengers, who said the driver expressed support for Mangione the night the blaze broke out.
Rinderknecht also had searched for the address of DoorDash’s CEO because he planned to murder him, a federal agent testified.
Before Rinderknecht’s arrest, much of the public blame was directed at Mayor Karen Bass, who was on a trip led by then-President Joe Biden in Africa when the fire erupted.
Critics also blasted Bass over empty reservoirs in Pacific Palisades during the crisis, fueling anti-Bass activism and even helping spark former reality star Spencer Pratt’s mayoral campaign.
Rinderknecht’s father, Joel, attended court daily and remained adamant his son is innocent. He listened intently in court as witness after witness testified against his son.
Rinderknecht was active during the jury selection process, helping Haney vet each one. “His life’s on the line, so he wants to be involved in picking a fair and impartial jury, he was super involved in doing so,” Haney said.