Jury appears deadlocked in Palisades fire arson trial, signaling possible mistrial

Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times on Jun 25, 2026

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LOS ANGELES — A federal jury hearing the arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old former Uber driver, accused of setting what would become the deadliest wildfire in Los Angeles history, said on Thursday they were “at a standstill” and “unsure how to proceed” after more than 13 hours of deliberations.

The jury sent a note at 2:30 pm to U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang, who read it aloud, suggesting the panel was deadlocked.

“We have people on both sides that are deadset,” the note read.

After discussions with defense attorneys and prosecutors, Hwang sent the jury back a note saying: “Is there anything the court can do to assist in the jury’s deliberations? For example, would an additional instruction or the rereading of any testimony help in the jury’s deliberation. Do not disclose the vote count in responding.”

The jury responded that nothing would help. “Unfortunately we cannot reach a unanimous verdict,” they wrote in a subsequent note read by Hwang shortly after 3:20 p.m.

It was the 12th day of a trial in which prosecutors called more than 30 witnesses, who painted a picture of a man spiraling mentally and seeking vengeance against the wealthy when he hiked to a clearing overlooking Pacific Palisades and used a lighter to set the Lachman fire last New Year’s Day.

Prosecutors said the Lachman fire smoldered underground for a week before exploding into the deadly Palisades fire. Firefighters had thought they had extinguished the initial blaze and packed their equipment out on Jan. 2. The secondary inferno erupted on Jan. 7. 2025, killed 12 people, destroyed 6,500 structures across the Palisades and Malibu and cost billions in damage and insurance claims.

Rinderknecht, who has been in federal custody since October, was on trial for destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.

During the trial, Rinderknecht’s defense attorney called several witnesses in an attempt to undercut the prosecution’s theory of the fire. A Palisades resident said he saw several teens leaving the hill behind his house after the fire started, acting “boastful.” A Los Angeles firefighter testified that he saw flashes of light and heard loud noises that sounded like fireworks around midnight near the neighborhood closest to where the blaze sparked. A defense expert told jurors the most likely cause of the blaze was fireworks and cast doubt on exactly where it originated.

“The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the lighter ignited the fire, because that’s what they claim happened here,” Steve Haney told the jury in his closing argument Tuesday. “They don’t have any evidence at all that Jonathan started a fire on that hill with a lighter.”

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