WESH TWO NEWS ON CW STARTS NOW. ONCE AGAIN, A MELBOURNE MAN ACCUSED OF STARTING THE DEADLY MASSIVE PALISADES FIRE IN LOS ANGELES IS SET TO GO ON TRIAL. WESH TWO’S DAVID JONES IS JOINING US LIVE FROM THE NEWSROOM TONIGHT. AND DAVID, THIS FIRE CLAIMED THE LIVES OF 12 PEOPLE AND SCORCHED THOUSANDS OF HOMES AND BUSINESSES. LUANA TRULY A HISTORIC FIRE IN ITS DESTRUCTION. NOW, 30 YEAR OLD JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT OF BREVARD COUNTY WILL GO TO TRIAL IN L A FOR STARTING THE BLAZE. TODAY WE ARE ANNOUNCING THE ARREST OF 29 YEAR OLD JONATHAN RINDERKNECHT. LAST OCTOBER, AUTHORITIES ANNOUNCED THE ARREST OF A NOW 30 YEAR OLD MELBOURNE MAN FOR IGNITING ONE OF THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE BLAZES IN LOS ANGELES HISTORY. MY GOD, YOU GUYS. THE FIRE DESTROYED MORE THAN 6000 BUILDINGS IN THE WEALTHY COASTAL NEIGHBORHOOD OF LA RINDERKNECHT WILL NOW STAND IN LA COURTROOM FOR TRIAL, FACING A MAXIMUM OF 45 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON. PROSECUTORS HAVE PAINTED RINDERKNECHT OUT TO BE, QUOTE, OBSESSED WITH FIRE. THEY SAY HE USED CHATGPT TO MAKE DYSTOPIAN IMAGES SHOWING PEOPLE FLEEING FROM FLAMES. THEY SAY HE WAS FIXATED ON ACCUSED UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO KILLER LUIGI MANGIONE THAT HE RANTED ABOUT CAPITALISM AND VIGILANTISM. THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT STATES. RINDERKNECHT TYPED A QUESTION INTO THE CHATGPT APP ON HIS IPHONE, ASKING, ARE YOU AT FAULT IF A FIRE IS LIT BECAUSE OF YOUR CIGARETTES? THE ALLEGATIONS ARE FURTHER SUPPORTED BY THE DEFENDANT’S CELL PHONE. HIS FALSE STATEMENTS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AND HIS BEHAVIOR DURING THE FIRE. WHICH DEFENDANT IS CHARGED WITH MALICIOUSLY STARTING SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT ON NEW YEAR’S DAY OF THIS YEAR, AND WHICH EVENTUALLY BECAME THE PALISADES FIRE. TO ME, THE NEWS OF THE ARREST OF THE INDIVIDUAL THAT DID SUCH A HEINOUS ACT JUST RAISES ALL THE TRAUMA. IT SENDS YOU BACK TO THE DAY. AND SO MY HEART RIGHT NOW GOES OUT TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO SURVIVED. AND OF COURSE, THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT DIDN’T. RINDERKNECHT ATTORNEY TOLD CNN HIS CLIENT DID NOT COMMIT THE CRIME. HE’S BEING CHARGED WITH. AND JURY SELECTION BEGINS TOMORROW. PROSECUTORS EXPECT THIS CASE TO LAST WELL OVER
Mistrial declared after jury deadlocks in arson case over deadly 2025 Palisades Fire in Los Angeles
Updated: 12:51 PM EDT Jun 26, 2026
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. Prosecutors said they will try again. 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.
LOS ANGELES —
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. Prosecutors said they will try again.
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.