Juror explains decision in Palisades arson trial – NBC Los Angeles

What to KnowJonathan Rinderknecht, 30, faced three arson counts in connection with January 2025 wildfires in the coastal LA County community of Pacific Palisades.The federal arson charges are destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire.On Thursday, jurors initially indicated they reached a unanimous decision, but later sent a note to the judge saying they were at a standstill and unable to agree. The jury said there were divisions among multiple jurors, but the judge ordered the panel to return to court Friday in an effort to seek a path forward. After a meeting with attorneys and briefly speaking with the jury, the judge declared a mistrial. A new trial was scheduled for Oct. 19. Rinderknecht will remain in custody.

One of 10 jurors who arrived at a not guilty verdict in the federal arson trial over two January 2025 Palisades wildfires said she wasn’t convinced Jonathan Rinderknecht was entirely responsible for both fires in the coastal Los Angeles County community.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse Friday after a mistrial was declared in the closely watched case, the juror identified as Syrena, from Lompoc, said there were “holes” in the prosecution’s evidence meant to tie the 30-year-old Rinderknecht to both fires. Rinderknecht faced three arson counts in connection with the fires — destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire.

“There was just not enough proof,” Syrena said. “I just felt like… a lot of holes.”

The Jan. 1, 2025 Lachman Fire smoldered for days before it was fanned by a Jan. 7, 2025 Santa Ana windstorm and became the Palisades Fire, according to authorities.

Syrena said there was back-and-forth during deliberations, but the eight women and four men of the panel refused to “budge.” She said some jurors initially indicated they were undecided, but eventually made up their minds after discussions.

In the end, the jury was divided 10-2, in favor of not guilty verdicts. A new trial date was set for Oct. 19 and Rinderknecht was ordered to remain in custody.

A mistrial was declared in the arson trial for the January 2025 Palisades wildfires after jurors were unable to agree on verdicts on Friday, June 26, 2026.

Syrena, who said she was saddened by the jury’s inability to agree, also questioned the prosecution’s theory that the Palisades Fire was a “holdover” from the earlier Lachman Fire.

“That was another reason that made me feel not guilty,” she said. “I wanted to know has anybody ever gotten in trouble for a holdover fire anywhere else? Because this holdover theory… it wasn’t working for me. Like, how do you say that? Shouldn’t the firemen, shouldn’t they have known? People were up there hiking and said that they saw smoldering. People were up there.”

In pretrial hearings, Judge Anne Hwang ruled that the defense may not attempt to shift the blame for the Palisades Fire to the Los Angeles Fire Department, which faced criticism for allegedly failing to completely extinguish the Lachman Fire.

NBC4 investigative reporter Eric Leonard, who has been closely following the developments in the Palisades Fire case, shares his experience from inside the courtroom after the jury failed to reach verdicts on Friday, June 26, 2026.

Thousands of structures were destroyed and 12 people died in the Palisades Fire, but Rinderknecht was not charged in connection with those deaths and prosecutors were not permitted to discuss the deaths during the trial.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Steven Haney repeatedly returned to his main theme: that no hard evidence tied his client to arson, and the Lachman and Palisades fires were two separate events. The first fire was likely caused by errant New Year’s Eve fireworks, he told jurors, and the second blaze could’ve been arson.

Outside court Friday, Haney said it was reasonable to believe that fireworks would be going off around midnight to celebrate the new year.

“The timing of the fire, I think the jury had a hard time determining that was a coincidence,” Haney said.

Prosecutors left Friday without speaking to reporters outside the court. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the government will pursue a retrial over the two fires.

“The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025, which eventually became the Palisades fire,” Essayli said in a post on X. “We fully intend to retry this case before a new jury and obtain guilty verdicts on all charged counts.”

Wildland fire experts testified that burn patterns on bushes and shrubs led them to conclude embers left smoldering underground from the Lachman Fire, reignited six days later during intense winds and grew into the devastating Palisades Fire, making Rinderknecht responsible for the destruction from both events.

The juror also address the previous day’s confusion when the jury initially indicated it reached unanimous verdicts. A subsequent note to the judge said the jury was at impasse and unable to agree.

The juror said there was a misunderstanding about language on a court form used to indicate the jury reached a unanimous verdict. She said the foreperson thought the form, which includes a check box to indicate the jury’s decision was unanimous, asked whether the decision was “un-unanimous.”

The jury said there were divisions among multiple jurors, but the judge ordered the panel to return to court Friday in an effort to seek a path forward. After brief discussions, a mistrial was announced.