Federal judge declares mistrial after deadlocked jury in Palisades arson case
A Los Angeles federal judge declared a mistrial after a federal jury deadlocked on all three arson charges against former Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht in the Palisades Fire case. NBC News reported that after two days of deliberations the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the arson charges. ABC7 Los Angeles later confirmed the deadlock, noting that the jurors had previously indicated they could not agree on a verdict.
A subsequent ABC7 report clarified that the jury, which had earlier been thought to have reached a verdict, remained unable to decide. The Los Angeles Times said the judge responded to the impasse by declaring a mistrial. ABC7 Los Angeles echoed that the federal judge announced the mistrial after the jury deadlocked on all three counts.
