Federal prosecutors failed to secure a conviction against Jonathan Rinderknecht, the former Uber driver accused of starting the fire that eventually tore through the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood last year.
U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang declared a mistrial Friday in the case against Rinderknecht after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous decision, NBC News and other outlets reported.
Rinderknecht was facing federal charges of destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce, and timber set afire. If convicted on all counts, he faced between five and 45 years in prison.
ABC 7 Los Angeles reports that the jury was deadlocked, with 10 jurors voting to acquit and two voting to convict.
The trial comes about a year and a half after the 2025 Palisades Fire burned through more than 23,000 acres, destroyed thousands of homes, and killed 12 people.
Prosecutors tried to make the case that Rinderknecht was responsible for a previous fire that broke out in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2025. According to court documents, that fire, known as the Lachman Fire, was suppressed by firefighters but continued to smolder underground in the root structure of dense vegetation. On January 7, heavy winds allegedly caused the underground fire to resurface and spread into what became the Palisades Fire.
Law enforcement used eyewitness accounts, cell phone data, and video surveillance to place Rinderknecht near the site of the fire around the same time it started. Two of Rinderknecht’s Uber passengers were dropped off in the Palisades that night and told law enforcement that he looked agitated.
After he dropped off his last passenger, prosecutors allege that Rinderknecht drove toward the Skull Rock Trailhead, parked his car, and walked up the trail. He later tried to call 911 several times to report the fire.
According to NBC News, prosecutors also brought up a question Rinderknecht allegedly asked ChatGPT about whether cigarettes can start a wildfire. Records show that months before the tragedy, Rinderknecht asked the chatbot to generate images of wildfires.
Rinderknecht’s defense, on the other hand, argued that there was no physical evidence tying him to the fire and that fireworks likely started the Lachman Fire.
“This case is not about whether fire happened. It’s about cause and integrity,” defense attorney Steve Haney said in his closing statement, NBC News reports. “You might not like Jonathan at the end of this trial, but that doesn’t mean he’s guilty.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X after the mistrial was announced that federal prosecutors plan to retry the case.
“The evidence is strong that Jonathan Rinderknecht is responsible for igniting the fire on January 1, 2025, which eventually became the Palisades fire,” wrote Essayli.
Judge Hwang ordered Rinderknecht to remain in custody pending a retrial, which is expected to start in October.
