{"id":5585,"date":"2026-06-26T19:34:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5585"},"modified":"2026-06-26T19:34:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T19:34:58","slug":"mistrial-declared-for-central-florida-man-accused-of-igniting-palisades-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5585","title":{"rendered":"Mistrial declared for Central Florida man accused of igniting Palisades fire"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The federal judge overseeing the trial of the man accused of igniting brush that became the massive and destructive Palisades fire declared a mistrial on Friday, June 26 after the jury insisted it could not reach a verdict on any of the three charges.<\/p>\n

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U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang polled the panel, asking each juror if more deliberations could thaw the deadlock.<\/p>\n

When they answered that they would not, she declared a mistrial \u2014 setting the stage for a retrial of Jonathan Rinderknecht of Melbourne, starting from scratch.<\/p>\n

When asked about the jury\u2019s opinions, the foreperson indicated that the jury was split 10 in favor of not guilty, two in favor of guilty. At least one juror cried.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain guilty verdicts on all charged counts,\u201d First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X immediately after the mistrial was declared. \u201cThe evidence is strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he heard Essayli\u2019s comments, defense attorney Steve Haney shot back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he says doesn\u2019t matter to me, he didn\u2019t try the case,\u201d Haney said. \u201cTen to two is a pretty resounding indication of what the jury felt about this case, and we felt that way from the beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe jury wasn\u2019t convinced he committed these crimes beyond a reasonable doubt,\u201d Haney said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On Thursday, June 25, the jury told the judge that, after 13 hours of deliberations, it was at a standstill in the case against Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old ex-rideshare driver accused of starting the most destructive wildfire ever in Los Angeles. The judge sent jurors home for the evening.<\/p>\n

But Friday morning, it was clear to her that no progress would be made, and the lawyers agreed.<\/p>\n

A juror, who only provided her first name, Syrena, said she did not feel Rinderknecht was guilty and said the panel reached a mistrial because two jurors would not budge from their position that the 30-year-old was guilty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just not enough proof,\u201d the 49-year-old Lompoc resident said. \u201cI just felt like (there were) a lot of holes.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Instead, Syrena said, she felt negligence on the part of firefighters played a major role in the Palisades fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe holdover-fire theory wasn\u2019t working for me,\u201d Syrena said. \u201cHow do you say that? Shouldn\u2019t the firemen \u2026 have known? People were hiking up there and said they saw smoldering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Syrena also said she did not like prosecutors bringing up Rinderknecht\u2019s ChatGPT use during the trial; she also uses the app. Prosecutors had said with ChatGPT he created images of people running from a burning forest, that he used the app as \u201ca confidant and diary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat made me angry that they were putting him down for just being human,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all have problems, but why are we putting his character down for starting a fire?\u201d<\/p>\n

Syrena, a juror in the Palisades fire criminal case, talks with the media. (Photo by Sierra van der Brug, SCNG)
\nAn alternate juror, who identified herself only as Briana, said if she were to have deliberated in the case, she also would have voted not guilty and that defense experts helped sway her.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving not secured a scene (for a week) says a lot and to pin that on one person \u2014 at the end of the day, we\u2019re all human and I understand mistakes are made, but this is a man\u2019s life,\u201d the Long Beach resident said. \u201cWe can\u2019t ignore that fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Authorities say it all started with the Lachman fire on Jan. 1, 2025, which was believed extinguished by firefighters but actually smoldered underground for six days before kicking up and becoming the Palisades fire, named after the coastal community of Pacific Palisades. That second blaze burned charred 23,500 acres in that community, Malibu and elsewhere, killing 12 people and destroying or damaging more than 7,500 homes and businesses.<\/p>\n

After two weeks of the government and defense presenting evidence, including testimony by a dozen-plus witnesses, and attorney arguments,\u00a0the case was handed to the jury on Wednesday, June 24.<\/p>\n

Rinderknecht\u00a0was not charged with any of the deaths, which were not allowed to come up during the trial. The U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office declined to comment on those decisions.<\/p>\n

Rinderknecht\u00a0decided against taking the stand.<\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors have labeled\u00a0Rinderknecht a malcontent, an arsonist\u00a0enraged about wealth disparity and climate change, using his lighter on brush\u00a0on a Hidden Buddha hillside\u00a0around midnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went up a hill in a neighborhood in the Pacific Palisades, a neighborhood he personally associated with his personal history with wealth and rejection. And when he went up that hill, he took this lighter with him,\u201d Assistant U.S. Attorney Danbee Kim said during her closing arguments, displaying a picture of a green, long-handled BIC lighter that the\u00a0prosecution said Rinderknecht used to start the Lachman fire.<\/p>\n

The defense argued that the fire could have been sparked by a firework, others could have been on the Hidden Buddha hill the night of the blaze and that the prosecution lacked evidence that Rinderknecht started the fire. His distaste for the wealthy is not an uncommon feeling in the country, his defense argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy was so much of this case about January 7, 2025?\u201d Haney, Rinderknecht\u2019s defense lawyer, said to the jury during his closing statements, referencing the day officials said the Palisades fire began. Haney called into question a focus on the Palisades fire, saying the charges against Rinderknecht are connected with the Lachman fire.<\/p>\n

Haney also criticized the investigation\u2019s start, which was 12 days after the Lachman fire, when the scene could have been affected by fire-suppression efforts, the Palisades fire burning the area for a second time, winds, and hikers possibly entering the area.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0trial\u00a0unfolded at the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez U.S. Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The Lachman fire was first reported around 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025. It grew to 8 to10 acres before it was extinguished by firefighters. No evacuation orders were issued, and no homes affected.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 7, 2025, as Santa Ana winds whipped the region, the Palisades fire erupted and burned for more than three weeks, blazing across the coastal enclave.<\/p>\n

Criticism has been leveled against the Los Angeles Fire Department for its role in the fire, as it had apparently determined the Lachman fire was out. Evidence pertaining to the Fire Department\u2019s response was not permitted at the trial.<\/p>\n

The Eaton fire, which erupted on the same day as the Palisades fire, killed 19 people, burned through more than 14,000 acres and damaged or destroyed over 10,000 homes and businesses in the San Gabriel Valley. A trial tied to that fire is scheduled for January 2027, when attorneys will seek to prove faulty equipment owned by Southern California Edison sparked the firestorm that devastated the Altadena area.<\/p>\n

The retrial is set to begin on Oct. 19, with Rinderknecht waiving his right to a speedy trial; his lawyer has several cases to handle before then.<\/p>\n

Rinderknecht, who has been in custody his arrest in October 2025, will remain behind bars until the retrial.<\/p>\n

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Staff writer Nathaniel Percy contributed to this story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The jury voted 10-2 to find Jonathan Rinderknecht not guilty, offering prosecutors a significant challenge if they decide to retry the Melbourne resident.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMistrial declared for Central Florida man accused of igniting Palisades fire - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=5585\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mistrial declared for Central Florida man accused of igniting Palisades fire - 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