A judge declared a mistrial on June 26, 2026, in the federal case over the origin of the January 2025 Palisades fire after jurors told the court they were deadlocked following two days of deliberations.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 30, is accused of deliberately igniting a blaze on Jan. 1, 2025, that grew into the Pacific Palisades fire, killing 12 people and destroying more than 6,000 buildings.
He was arrested in October, pleaded not guilty and faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted on counts that included destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
Prosecutors said they intended to retry the case, and U.S. attorney Bill Essayli wrote on social media, "The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025, which eventually became the Palisades fire."
Prosecutors accused Rinderknecht of lighting a small brush fire on New Year's Eve 2025 that became known as the Lachman fire and cited geolocation data from his iPhone, security camera footage showing his car's location and witness testimony from passengers.
They said evidence recovered from his digital devices included an image generated using ChatGPT and argued he used ChatGPT like a diary, chronicling a fascination with fire; prosecutors alleged he had a "deeply entrenched belief that the wealthy were destroying the world," which they said motivated the alleged arson in the affluent neighborhood.
Defense attorney Steve Haney argued that Rinderknecht did not start the blaze and had reported the fire to authorities when he saw it break out, and one of Rinderknecht's attorneys called the mistrial "a pretty resounding indication of what the jury felt about this case" and said jurors were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt.
Fire officials said the Lachman fire smouldered underground for six days before extreme Santa Ana winds rekindled its embers near a hiking trail that overlooks the affluent coastal neighborhood, and the January fires in the region in total left 31 people dead and destroyed 16,000 structures.
Rinderknecht is a dual French and U.S. citizen, a former Uber driver and once lived in the affluent coastal community near the burned area.