A Los Angeles County judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case against Jonathan Rinderknecht, the 30-year-old man accused of igniting the deadliest wildfire in the city’s history, after jurors reported they were hopelessly deadlocked following two days of deliberations.
Rinderknecht stands accused of deliberately starting a blaze on January 1, 2025, that became known as the Lachman fire. That fire smoldered undetected for six days before extreme Santa Ana winds reignited it, transforming it into the catastrophic Pacific Palisades fire. The inferno ultimately killed 12 people, destroyed more than 6,000 structures, and ranked among a series of January fires that collectively claimed 31 lives and razed 16,000 buildings across the region.
The jury informed the court they could not reach a unanimous verdict on charges that included destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and setting timber afire. Rinderknecht, a dual French-U.S. citizen and former Uber driver who once resided in the affluent coastal community, pleaded not guilty in October and faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors immediately vowed to retry the case. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli maintained in a social media post following the mistrial that the evidence against Rinderknecht is strong. During trial, the government argued Rinderknecht was motivated by revenge, anger, and loneliness over having nowhere to spend the holiday, alleging he held a “deeply entrenched belief that the wealthy were destroying the world.”
To support their case, prosecutors presented geolocation data from Rinderknecht’s iPhone, security camera footage tracking his vehicle, and testimony from passengers. They also introduced evidence recovered from his digital devices, including an AI-generated image depicting a city in flames. Prosecutors contended Rinderknecht used ChatGPT as a diary to chronicle a fascination with fire in the days leading up to the ignition.
Defense attorney Steve Haney countered that Rinderknecht did not start the fire and had actually alerted authorities when he saw it break out. Following the mistrial, Haney characterized the hung jury as a “pretty resounding indication of what the jury felt about this case,” asserting the panel was not convinced of his client’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
