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Attorney for man accused of causing Palisades Fire says client has 'frustration and anxiety' over charges
This undated photo provided by the US Attorney's Office shows Jonathan Rinderknecht, a suspect in the Palisades Fire.
The man accused of setting the destructive Palisades Fire has been extradited from Florida and pleaded not guilty to federal charges Thursday in Los Angeles.
About the charges
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, of Melbourne, Florida, was charged earlier this month in a federal indictment one count of destruction of property by means of fire, one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of setting timber afire.
He entered his plea Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court. If convicted of the charges, he faces up to 45 years in federal prison.
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He is currently being held on a no-bail status at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center. During the arraignment, his attorney told Magistrate Judge Rozella Oliver that he wanted a hearing to consider bail.
No date for such a hearing was set. A trial date was set for Dec. 16, but that is likely to change.
What the indictment says
Rinderknecht is accused of setting a small fire — later dubbed the Lachman Fire — along a popular hiking trail in the Palisades while driving for Uber just after midnight Jan. 1. The fire was initially thought to have been extinguished by firefighters, but it instead smoldered underground for several days before high winds whipped it up again, sparking the Palisades Fire.
What the defense says
After the hearing, reporters asked defense attorney Steve Haney about a moment in the courtroom when Rinderknecht appeared to try to say something but Haney cut him off.
Haney said later that he couldn't share any information covered by attorney-client privilege, but that the moment indicated his client's frustration.
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"He's a young man," he said. "He's not really clear why he's in jail and he has a lot of frustration and anxiety right now."
Citing the indictment, Haney said prosecutors are trying to blame his client for a fire that started nearly a week before the Palisades Fire.
"Well what about what happened between Jan. 1 and Jan. 7?" he asked. "Jonathan wasn't out there with a fire hose putting that fire out at the Lachman location, the Fire Department was. So why are they blaming him for whatever the Fire Department didn't do?"
The context
The Palisades Fire burned more than 23,000 acres in the city of Los Angeles, killed 12 people and destroyed nearly 7,000 structures.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
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