Defense attorneys for the man accused of starting the deadly Palisades fire in Los Angeles held a news conference Thursday to call for his release from prison in light of new evidence that shows he is not responsible for the blaze.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was charged in October with starting the deadliest wildfire in California history. It started on January 7, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades and Malibu mountains and killed 12 people.
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Prosecutors say Rinderknecht started a fire on Jan. 1 that burned deep into the root system before reigniting a week later. Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyers say he is being used as a scapegoat for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s failure to fully extinguish the blaze.
The US attorney’s office declined to comment.
Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steve Haney, pointed to a newly released statement in which a firefighter testified that he saw the ground still smoldering from the fire on Jan. 2 and alerted a supervisor that there were hot spots. The testimony was collected as part of a lawsuit filed by fire victims against the city.
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According to Heaney, the trial also included testimony from California state park ranger Christy Araujo attesting to the fire extinguisher’s burn scar.
A battalion chief testified that he walked around the burn area four times throughout the day to make sure all hot spots were out.
Fire Department Chief Jim Moore, who was hired in October, has said he is concerned about discrepancies in firefighters’ testimony and has commissioned an independent report on how the Jan. 1 fire was handled.
Heaney said the evidence was not available to the defense when Rinderknecht was indicted.
“This evidence calls into question not only the fundamental fairness of my client’s continued detention, but also the basis of the charges themselves,” Heaney said in a statement. “This is not a case of an individual who started a fire, this is a case of government agencies failing to do their jobs.”
He also said there was no evidence that Rinderknecht started the fire on January 1, and that based on eyewitness accounts, it was likely that the fire was caused by fireworks.
Rinderknecht, who is serving 150 days in jail, should never have been charged and should be released immediately, Heaney said. He said that because of federal procedural rules, Haney cannot file a motion to dismiss the indictment, but plans to file a motion next week to suppress all evidence in the case that was obtained through search warrants that lacked probable cause.
“I’m calling on the U.S. attorney,” Haney said. “I believe they have a moral obligation to look into this and dismiss the indictment.”
The next pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for April.
Top Image: 2025 Pacific Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. Source: CalFire.
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