Protection lawyer for man charged with igniting lethal Palisades hearth calls case skinny and labels it scapegoating

An legal professional for the person charged with deliberately igniting a smoldering blaze that later grew to become the lethal Palisades hearth says the proof towards his consumer is skinny and accused authorities of scapegoating him.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was indicted this week on three felony expenses and faces the prospect of as much as 45 years in jail. The one-time L.A. Uber driver and now Florida resident was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 7 and charged with destruction of property by the use of hearth for allegedly beginning a Jan. 1 blaze often called the Lachman hearth that smoldered for six days till it grew to become essentially the most harmful wildfire in Los Angeles historical past.

Prosecutors on Wednesday revealed a brand new indictment towards Rinderknecht that upped the stakes by including one depend of arson affecting property utilized in interstate commerce and one depend of timber set afire.

However Steve Haney, Rinderknecht’s newly retained lawyer, mentioned the case towards Rinderknecht is skinny, and factually linking him to the Palisades hearth isn’t doable.

He mentioned the time between the Lachman hearth on Jan. 1 and the Palisades hearth on Jan. 7 leaves open room for a large number of variables that might have led to the harmful and lethal blaze. Rinderknecht is way faraway from the Palisades hearth, Haney mentioned.

“I don’t see any proof linking the Lachman hearth to the Palisades hearth,” Haney mentioned. He mentioned that the federal government’s case is “filled with all kinds of issues.”

“Discovering a scapegoat for the Palisades hearth is un-American,” mentioned Haney, who’s well-known for representing sports activities figures in prison proceedings.

Haney mentioned he has seen the grand jury indictment towards his consumer, however the federal authorities has not but supplied to point out him any proof within the case. His consumer has not entered a plea on the costs towards him and he’s as a result of seem in a federal courtroom in California within the subsequent few weeks.

“He’s longing for the reality to be advised,” Haney mentioned Thursday about his consumer, whom he described as doing properly in federal detention in Florida.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, working with the Los Angeles Police Division, decided that the large Palisades hearth was a continuation of the small Lachman hearth, on Jan. 1. L.A. firefighters believed they knocked it down however the hearth continued to smolder beneath the earth earlier than reigniting amid fierce Santa Ana winds on Jan. 7.

Federal prosecutors allege that Rinderknecht maliciously began the Lachman hearth close to Cranium Rock simply after midnight on New Yr’s Day after working a shift as an Uber driver. Legislation enforcement officers used witness statements, video surveillance, cellphone knowledge, and evaluation of fireplace dynamics and patterns to find out that Rinderknecht was accountable for the preliminary ignition, prosecutors mentioned.

The Palisades hearth killed 12 individuals, scorched 23,400 acres — an space roughly 1.5 occasions the dimensions of Manhattan — and leveled greater than 6,800 constructions.

On Rinderknecht’s cellphone, investigators discovered an AI-generated picture of a burning metropolis with individuals attempting to flee, in keeping with Invoice Essayli, performing U.S. legal professional for the Central District of California.

Two Uber passengers whom Rinderknecht drove on separate journeys between 10:15 and 11:15 p.m. on New Yr’s Eve advised legislation enforcement that he appeared offended and agitated.

After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, he parked close to Cranium Rock Trailhead and walked up the path whereas listening to a brooding French rap track whose music video exhibits trash on hearth, prosecutors allege.

Rinderknecht’s mother and father stay in France, the place his father is a citizen, in keeping with Shawn Hurley, a pastor with Meadowbrook Baptist Church in Lima, Ohio, who has identified the household for 30 years.

Rinderknecht has additionally hung out in France, however was dwelling in a Hollywood condo on the time he allegedly began the Lachman hearth. Environmental sensors first detected that blaze at 12:12 a.m. on Jan. 1.

Throughout the subsequent 5 minutes, Rinderknecht tried calling 911 a number of occasions however couldn’t get via till he arrived on the backside of the path and regained cellphone service, prosecutors mentioned. By that point, a close-by resident had already contacted authorities.

Rinderknecht advised legislation enforcement that he first noticed the fireplace from the underside of the path; nevertheless, knowledge from his iPhone confirmed that he was standing 30 toes from the fireplace because it quickly grew, prosecutors allege.

The Los Angeles Fireplace Division, which been criticized for failing to pre-deploy enough sources throughout the fire-weather circumstances on Jan. 7 when the Palisades hearth ignited, is now going through scrutiny over whether or not it might have performed extra to forestall the rekindling of the Lachman hearth.

Workers author Clara Harter contributed to this report.