Judge declares mistrial in arson case over Palisades Fire blaze

A federal judge declared a mistrial in the arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked, with the panel split 10-2 in favor of acquittal on all three felony counts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said it would retry the case.

The Palisades Fire tore through Pacific Palisades beginning January 7, 2025, and burned 23,448 acres before it was fully contained on January 31, 2025. The fire destroyed 6,837 structures, damaged 973 more and killed 12 people.

Rinderknecht, 30, was arrested in October 2025 on a federal criminal complaint alleging he maliciously started the fire. Federal prosecutors said he was a former Pacific Palisades resident who had moved to Florida by the time of his arrest, and the Justice Department said the case involved an intentional ignition near the neighborhood in the early hours of January 1, 2025. Prosecutors alleged he set a brush fire known as the Lachman Fire just after midnight, while the defense argued the first blaze was caused by fireworks and was separate from the later Palisades Fire.

Bill Essayli said the office intended to return the case to a new jury. “The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025... We fully intend to retry this case before a new jury,” he said. The mistrial did not end the prosecution.

The trial had already run for about two weeks and included testimony from more than a dozen witnesses before jurors were sent to deliberate. Jurors spent about 13 hours over two days trying to reach a unanimous verdict. One survivor described the mistrial as a “punch in the face.”