{"id":17894,"date":"2026-06-25T22:01:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T22:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894"},"modified":"2026-06-25T22:01:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T22:01:51","slug":"jury-deadlocked-in-palisades-fire-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894","title":{"rendered":"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The jury is deadlocked in the Palisade fire trial, in which 30-year-old ex-rideshare driver Jonathan Rinderknecht is accused of setting what eventually became the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles city history.<\/p>\n

Read more Carnival and fish fry offer three days of fun in Costa Mesa this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

The Palisades fire burned over 23,500 acres, killed 12 people and destroyed or damaged over 7,500 homes and businesses, after an earlier fire \u2013 the Jan. 1, 2025 Lachman fire \u2013 reignited, following roughly a week of smoldering underground.<\/p>\n

The case went to the jury on Wednesday, after nearly two weeks of arguments from government prosecutors and the defense and testimony from over a dozen witnesses, including Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents, certified fire investigators, Uber passengers driven by Rinderknecht, a firefighter and arson behavior experts.<\/p>\n

Rinderknecht was charged with destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire. He was arrested on Oct. 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

He was 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 declined to testify in his own defense.<\/p>\n

During the trial, the government characterized Rinderknecht as a malcontent, societal revenge-driven arsonist enraged about wealth disparity and climate change and teeming with anger over his powerlessness, so much so that he used a lighter to set a fire in the clearing of the Hidden Buddha hill on around midnight on Jan. 1, 2025 \u2014 the New Year\u2019s Eve Lachman fire. Authorities say it remained underground, smoldering for six days before resurfacing as the Palisades fire on Jan. 7, 2025.<\/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 prosecution said Rinderknecht used to start the Lachman fire.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The defense argued that the fire could have been sparked by a firework, others could have been on Hidden Buddha hill the night of the blaze and that the prosecution lacked evidence that Rinderknecht started the fire. Rinderknecht\u2019s 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 asked the jury during his closing statements, referencing the day the Palisades fire began. Haney called into question what he called a focus on the Palisades fire, while the charges against Rinderknecht are connected with the Lachman fire.<\/p>\n

Read more States are changing fire codes to make housing cheaper. Some safety experts are worried<\/a><\/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 or hikers entering the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government is prosecuting a man for a fire they say he set that nobody investigated for 12 days?\u201d Haney said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The trial unfolded at the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez United States Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. It was presided over by U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang.<\/p>\n

The Lachman fire was first spotted around 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2025. It grew to 8-10 acres before it was extinguished by firefighters. No evacuation orders were issued and no homes were affected.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 7, 2025, as Santa Ana winds whipped the region, the Palisades fire began 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. 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 over 14,000 acres and damaged or destroyed over 10,000 homes and businesses in the San Gabriel Valley. A trial in that fire is scheduled for January 2027, when attorneys will seek to prove faulty equipment owned by Southern California Edison sparked the fire that devastated Altadena.<\/p>\n

Read more A rifle-toting war reporter died with Custer at Little Bighorn 150 years ago<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A 30-year-old ex-rideshare driver has been accused of setting what eventually became the Palisades fire, the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles city history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nJury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/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:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A 30-year-old ex-rideshare driver has been accused of setting what eventually became the Palisades fire, the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles city history.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T22:01:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T22:01:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894\"},\"wordCount\":713,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894\",\"name\":\"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial - Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T22:01:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=17894#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial - Silicon Valley Moving Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial - Silicon Valley Moving Post","og_description":"A 30-year-old ex-rideshare driver has been accused of setting what eventually became the Palisades fire, the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles city history.","og_url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894","og_site_name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","article_published_time":"2026-06-25T22:01:51+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"headline":"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial","datePublished":"2026-06-25T22:01:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894"},"wordCount":713,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp","articleSection":["Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894","name":"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial - Silicon Valley Moving Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-25T22:01:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/c0d4a8f8ce8b5e1672cd89dfddd20785.webp","width":1024,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=17894#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/","name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}