A federal judge declared a mistrial Friday in the arson case against the man accused of sparking the deady 2025 Palisades Fire in Los Angeles after the jury said it could not agree on a verdict.
Jurors said a day prior they had come to a standstill in deliberations in the trial of 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht on three federal charges: arson, malicious destruction by means of a fire and timber set aflame.
“The court finds there is a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial because the jury is deadlocked,” Judge Anne Hwang said, with 10 jurors set on a not-guilty verdict and two others determined to convict.
It wasn’t immediately clear if federal prosecutors would move to retry the case.
“We have people on both sides that are dead set, unwavering and unwilling to change their opinion,” a note from the jury Thursday read by Judge Anne Hwang said.
The jury also said there was nothing the court could do to help and that they were split on all three charges. Prosecution had requested Hwang to tell the jury to deliberate longer, but she said there was a “risk of coercion” given how definitive the jury seemed.
Rinderknecht pleaded not guilty to starting what became one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. He was charged with arson, malicious destruction by means of a fire and timber set aflame.
