“We fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain guilty verdicts on all charged counts.”
A federal judge in California has declared a mistrial after the jury overseeing the case of 30-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht remained deadlocked on Friday. Rinderknecht was charged with three counts of arson for allegedly starting the fire that would later erupt into the destructive Palisades Fire in 2025.
Per Fox 11, the jury came back on Thursday afternoon, saying that they were at a standstill. In response to the judge asking if extra instructions or evidence read-backs would help the jurors, the jury foreman wrote back in a note that "there is nothing the court can do" to assist the jurors. "Unfortunately, we cannot reach a unanimous decision." The word "cannot" was reportedly underlined.
Of the 12 juror panel, 10 jurors were set on a not guilty verdict, while 2 jurors were set on a guilty verdict, per Fox News.
US Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement following the decision, "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."
https://twitter.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2070542752300015931?s=20
Rinderknecht had been charged with starting the New Year's Day 2025 Lachman Fire, which was not fully extinguished and smoldered underground, only to erupt into the destructive Palisades Fire around a week later. The prosecution argued that Rinderknecht had "a deeply entrenched belief that the wealthy were destroying the world," and that "the Pacific Palisades neighborhood represented all of that." The defense argued that there was no evidence linking their client to the fire.
Prosecutors alleged that Rinderknecht had been upset over a past relationship with a former coworker and angry about not having plans on New Year’s Eve prior to the fire. He worked as an Uber driver that night, with passengers claiming that he displayed erratic behavior that night, describing him as angry, driving recklessly, and ranting about his frustration with the world.
Investigators alleged that Rinderknecht had searched online for phrases related to Mangione in the weeks before the Lachman Fire, including "free Luigi Mangione," "let's take down all the billionaires," and "reddit lets kill all the billionaires." In a January 2025 interview with investigators, he allegedly said when asked why someone might commit arson in the Palisades that it could be done “out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money as 'we're basically being enslaved by them.”
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