Arson Jury Deadlock
Palisades Fire Arson Jury Deadlocks, Judge Orders Continued Deliberations in Deadly Case
Key Points
The Palisades Fire has killed at least 12 people, making it the deadliest blaze on record in Los Angeles County.
Firefighters initially referred to the incident as the Lachman Fire before it became known as the Palisades Fire, with early reports suggesting firefighters had extinguished it before later developments.
Jurors submitted a note stating, "We have people on both sides that are dead-set. Unwavering. We are at a standstill. We are unsure how to proceed," and the judge asked whether additional instructions or rereading testimony would help; the jurors answered that nothing the court could do would assist their deliberations.
Jonathan Rinderknecht is identified in court records as a 30-year-old defendant facing charges including destruction of property by fire and arson affecting interstate commerce.
The judge ordered the jurors to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday, as the panel remained deadlocked on the second day of deliberations.
A federal jury in Los Angeles deadlocked Thursday in the arson trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old former Uber driver accused of starting the 2025 Palisades Fire — the deadliest wildfire in Los Angeles County history, killing 12 people and destroying 6,837 structures. Jurors initially checked a box signaling a unanimous verdict, then reversed course 30 minutes later, according to FOX 11.
The jury sent Judge Anne Hwang a blunt note: "We have people on both sides that are dead-set. Unwavering. We are at a standstill." The judge asked if more instructions or re-read testimony would help. Jurors said no. She ordered them back to deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday. A mistrial remains possible if the deadlock holds, according to CNN.
How a New Year's Eve Fire Became a Historic Disaster
Shortly after midnight on January 1, 2025, a small fire — called the Lachman Fire — ignited near Skull Rock in Temescal Canyon. Los Angeles firefighters reported it extinguished on January 2, after it burned about eight acres. That appeared to be the end of it, according to The Guardian.
It wasn't. The fire had been smoldering underground in root systems — a phenomenon investigators call a "holdover" or "zombie fire." On January 7, 2025, Santa Ana winds gusting past 90 mph caused it to resurface. It exploded into the Palisades Fire, burning 23,448 acres and causing an estimated $25 billion in damage before it was fully contained on January 31, according to Live Now Fox.
Prosecution Calls It Revenge, Defense Says It Was Fireworks
Prosecutors say Rinderknecht was "spiraling mentally" and driven by rage toward the wealthy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Danbee Kim told jurors he held a "deeply entrenched belief that the wealthy were destroying the world" and chose Pacific Palisades to strike at that symbol. The government presented his DNA found on a lighter near the ignition site, along with AI-generated images of a burning city found in his digital history, according to USA Herald.
Defense attorney Steve Haney pushed back hard. He told jurors, "Jonathan did not start the fire," and argued that fireworks were the real cause. Haney framed his client as a Good Samaritan who stayed at the scene and called 911. Rinderknecht faces up to 45 years in federal prison if convicted on all three counts, which include destruction of property by fire and arson affecting interstate commerce, according to Airdrie City View.
No Video, No Eyewitness — A Case Built on Circumstantial Evidence
The government has no video of Rinderknecht starting the fire. Instead, prosecutors built what they called a "mosaic" of circumstantial evidence: his DNA on the lighter, erratic behavior reported by Uber passengers that night, and his anti-wealth rhetoric found online. The case also rests heavily on the zombie fire theory — the idea that the January 1 blaze and the January 7 catastrophe are the same fire, linked by smoldering underground roots, according to NTD.
USC law professor Aya Gruber noted the theory's vulnerability. "You could argue that this type of fire is very unusual," she told The Guardian. That uncertainty — whether the resurface was foreseeable — may explain why jurors are split. The jury's own note suggested the divide is not about needing more information. It appears to be a fundamental disagreement that more deliberation may not bridge.
A Mistrial Would Force Prosecutors to Start Over
If Judge Hwang declares a mistrial, federal prosecutors must decide whether to retry Rinderknecht. A second trial would take months to organize, delaying justice for the roughly 105,000 residents displaced by the fire and the families of its 12 victims. Rinderknecht, a dual French-American citizen, was arrested in Melbourne, Florida in October 2025 after an ATF investigation and has pleaded not guilty, according to CNN.
The criminal case is not the only legal battle ahead. Civil lawsuits are already targeting utility companies, including Southern California Edison, for alleged negligence in fire prevention. The LAFD and CAL FIRE have also begun reassessing how they monitor holdover fires in high-wind zones — a policy gap the Palisades disaster exposed in the most devastating way possible, according to Airdrie City View.
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