Defense attorneys for the man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire said Thursday that new evidence — including conflicting firefighter testimony about whether hot spots were fully extinguished before the blaze reignited — undermines the federal case against their client and called for his immediate release from custody.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, has been jailed for 150 days on federal charges stemming from his alleged role in starting one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. The Palisades Fire broke out Jan. 7, 2025, tearing through hillside neighborhoods in Pacific Palisades and Malibu, killing 12 people and destroying more than 6,800 homes and buildings.
Attorney Steve Haney held a news conference Thursday to outline the new evidence and argue that Rinderknecht — whom he described as a frustrated young man who does not know why he is in jail — should never have been indicted.
"This evidence calls into question not only the fundamental fairness for my client's continued detention, but the very foundation of the charges themselves," Haney said. "This is not a case about an individual causing a fire. This is a case about government agencies failing to do their jobs."
Federal prosecutors allege Rinderknecht started a small fire in the early hours of Jan. 1 after dropping off an Uber passenger in Pacific Palisades and walking up a hiking trail. He has pleaded not guilty. Investigators say the blaze smoldered underground for nearly a week before reigniting in the powerful Santa Ana winds that swept across Los Angeles County on Jan. 7, when the fire exploded into a catastrophic conflagration alongside the Eaton Fire in Altadena, which killed 19 and destroyed more than 9,400 structures. Together, the two fires killed more than 30 people and destroyed over 17,000 homes and buildings.
Federal officials have described the Palisades blaze as a "holdover fire" from the Jan. 1 ignition, noting that such fires can linger in root systems at depths of 15 to 20 feet, making them undetectable by thermal imaging cameras. Los Angeles' interim fire chief made that assertion at the time of Rinderknecht's arrest in October.
But Haney said newly released deposition testimony gathered as part of a civil lawsuit filed by fire victims against the city tells a different story about what firefighters knew — and when.
In that deposition, a firefighter testified that on Jan. 2, the day after the initial blaze, he noticed the ground was still smoldering and alerted a supervisor to the presence of hot spots. A battalion chief, however, testified that he walked the perimeter of the burn area four times throughout the day and confirmed that all hot spots had been extinguished.
Haney said the conflicting accounts were not available to the defense when Rinderknecht was indicted. Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore, who was appointed in October, has said she is concerned about the discrepancies between the two firefighters' accounts and has commissioned an independent report on how the Jan. 1 fire was handled.
"They had a duty to put the fire out," Haney said. "My client is being used as a scapegoat."
That argument echoes what Haney raised before a federal judge shortly after Rinderknecht was extradited from Florida to Los Angeles in late October, when he entered his not guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver. At that hearing, Haney told the judge that Rinderknecht was being charged with a fire that started seven days after the one he allegedly set.
The judge ordered Rinderknecht to remain in custody at that time. The Florida judge who initially detained him had cited concerns about Rinderknecht's mental health and his ability to appear in California for future court proceedings. Haney has said his client has no documented history of mental health issues, drug use, or prior criminal activity.
Rinderknecht was arrested Oct. 7 at his sister's house in Orlando, where he had been staying. He made his first court appearance the following day in Florida on a charge of malicious destruction by means of fire. A grand jury subsequently indicted him on additional counts, including arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire. If convicted on all counts, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
Prosecutors say the circumstantial evidence against Rinderknecht is substantial. According to the federal criminal complaint, he was working as an Uber driver on New Year's Eve and, after dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, parked and walked up a trail. Investigators say he took videos near a hilltop area and listened to a rap song featuring imagery of objects being set on fire shortly before midnight. He is alleged to have started the fire just after midnight.
Investigators found a barbecue-style lighter in the glove compartment of his car on Jan. 24, which appeared to match a lighter photographed in his apartment on Dec. 31. He told investigators he brought a lighter with him when he walked up the hill. He also made multiple 911 calls to report the fire, and during a Jan. 24 interview with investigators, provided details about where the fire began that had not been made public, which prosecutors said demonstrated firsthand knowledge of the ignition point.
The criminal complaint also noted that Rinderknecht searched ChatGPT about whether a cigarette could start a fire, which investigators interpreted as an attempt to construct a more innocent explanation for the blaze's origin.
Haney has argued those details do not establish that the Palisades Fire — which did not ignite until Jan. 7 — was caused by the Jan. 1 blaze his client allegedly set. He contends the Los Angeles Fire Department's failure to fully suppress the earlier fire constitutes an intervening factor that breaks the causal chain prosecutors must establish to secure a conviction.
Federal prosecutors will need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Palisades Fire grew from the six-day-old blaze, according to Jerod Gunsberg, a California criminal defense attorney with experience in arson cases who has analyzed the case.
Rinderknecht's trial is scheduled for Dec. 16.
By JAIMIE DING, Associated Press