Firefighters deliver conflicting testimony over fireworks in Palisades Fire arson trial
Defense witnesses said they heard fireworks, while prosecutors said the fire smoldered underground for six days before erupting into the Palisades Fire.
- The federal arson trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, accused of sparking the 2025 Palisades Fire in Los Angeles, nears closing arguments, with the defendant facing up to 45 years in prison if convicted of three arson counts.
- Prosecutors allege Rinderknecht set the Lachman Fire on New Year's Eve 2025 using a green Bic lighter to seek "societal revenge," a motive behavioral analyst Dr. Kevin Kelm attributed to "escalating anger" and "social isolation."
- Contradictory firefighter testimony challenged defense attorney Steve Haney's fireworks theory Monday, while Judge Anne Hwang dismissed a juror for demonstrating bias toward the Los Angeles Fire Department.
- The fire burned 23,448 acres and killed 12 people, destroying Andy Leonard's "seafood shack" and the Reel Inn, which Leonard had operated for 38 years.
- Judge Hwang ruled evidence of LAFD negligence inadmissible, constraining the defense's strategy to shift blame for the fire's spread after first responders left the scene.
31 Articles
31 Articles
Jury deliberations begin in trial of man accused of sparking precursor to Palisades Fire
Jury deliberations began Wednesday in the trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, who is federally charged with starting the Lachman Fire – a fire that smoldered for a week before exploding into what became the deadly, destructive Palisades Fire in January 2025. Rinderknecht was arrested and indicted last October on one count of destruction of property by [...]
Defense Witnesses in Palisades Fire Trial Say Probe Was Tainted by Bias, Compromised Scene
LOS ANGELES—Arson and wildland fire experts in the federal trial accusing a 29-year-old Uber driver of starting a blaze that would lead, days later, to the deadly Palisades Fire, on Monday and Tuesday told a jury that the government’s case was corrupted by bias, shoddy investigative work, and a lack of forensic evidence establishing arson as the cause of the fire. Testifying for the defense, Edward Nordskog, an arson investigator and retired L.A…
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