A man charged with sparking a blaze tied to the devastating Palisades Fire is now seeking to have the criminal case against him dismissed after new testimony from firefighters surfaced in a civil lawsuit connected to the disaster, as reported by The New York Post.
Jonathan Rinderknecht was indicted last year on three federal arson charges related to the Lachman Fire, a smaller blaze that ignited in the Palisades Highlands area just six days before the much larger Palisades Fire tore through the region.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Rinderknecht started the Lachman Fire, which later became part of the investigation surrounding the larger fire that caused extensive damage across the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.
BREAKING: Suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested for allegedly causing the Palisades Fire, which devastated Los Angeles, leaving 12 people dead and causing nearly $150 billion in damages. pic.twitter.com/X50PCm7iRC
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Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty to the charges. According to court filings and statements from his legal team, he has been held without bail for 150 days while awaiting further proceedings in federal court.
Now his attorney argues that new testimony from firefighters contradicts key elements of the government’s narrative and raises serious questions about the basis of the charges.
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Steve Haney, who represents Rinderknecht, said recently released depositions show that firefighters encountered lingering hot spots in the burn area after the Lachman Fire was believed to be contained.
Haney says that testimony undermines the claim that the earlier fire had been fully extinguished before the larger disaster occurred.
“The prosecutors didn’t know about these critical failures when they sought an indictment, but they do now,” Haney said while discussing the newly public depositions.
He also indicated he plans to present additional information during a press conference scheduled for Thursday.
Haney sharply criticized the original criminal complaint filed against his client, describing it as a “blatantly false narrative.”
He further argued that the emerging testimony challenges what he called “the very foundation of the charges.”
The testimony referenced by Haney comes from depositions taken as part of a civil lawsuit filed by thousands of victims of the Palisades Fire.
Those plaintiffs are suing the City of Los Angeles and the State of California over the response to the fires and the events that led up to the disaster.
One deposition in particular has drawn attention. Firefighter Scott Pike testified about conditions he observed on Jan. 2, the day after the Lachman Fire had burned.
Pike said he encountered lingering heat while cleaning up hoses in the fire zone.
“I could feel the heat coming off of it,” Pike testified. “There was like red-hot coals … still smoldering. I even heard crackling.”
According to Haney, that testimony indicates that parts of the fire area may not have been fully extinguished, raising questions about the sequence of events that followed and the causes of the later Palisades Fire.
The federal government has not provided detailed public responses to the defense claims tied to the deposition testimony.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California declined to comment on the specifics of the case when asked about the developments.
“We’ll see Mr. Rinderknecht in court,” the office said in a brief statement.
The case continues to move through the federal court system while civil litigation tied to the fires also proceeds.
Attorneys involved in the civil suits say the depositions and other evidence gathered during discovery are likely to remain central to ongoing legal disputes surrounding the cause of the fires and the response from government agencies.
Rinderknecht remains in custody as the legal battle continues, with his defense team arguing that the newly revealed testimony should result in the charges being reconsidered.
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