Defense Lawyer For Man Charged With Igniting Deadly Palisades Fire Calls Case Thin And Labels It Scapegoating - Beritaja

An lawyer for the man charged pinch intentionally igniting a smoldering blaze that later became the deadly Palisades occurrence says the grounds against his customer is bladed and accused authorities of scapegoating him.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, was indicted this week connected 3 felony charges and faces the imaginable of up to 45 years successful prison. The one-time L.A. Uber driver and now Florida resident was arrested by the FBI connected Oct. 7 and charged pinch demolition of spot by intends of occurrence for allegedly starting a Jan. 1 blaze known arsenic the Lachman occurrence that smoldered for six days until it became the about destructive wildfire successful Los Angeles history.

Prosecutors connected Wednesday revealed a caller indictment against Rinderknecht that upped the stakes by adding 1 count of arson affecting spot utilized successful interstate commerce and 1 count of timber group afire.

But Steve Haney, Rinderknecht’s recently retained lawyer, said the lawsuit against Rinderknecht is thin, and factually linking him to the Palisades occurrence is not possible.

He said the clip betwixt the Lachman occurrence connected Jan. 1 and the Palisades occurrence connected Jan. 7 leaves unfastened room for a multitude of variables that could person led to the destructive and deadly blaze. Rinderknecht is acold removed from the Palisades fire, Haney said.

“I don’t spot immoderate grounds linking the Lachman occurrence to the Palisades fire,” Haney said. He said that the government’s lawsuit is “full of each sorts of problems.”

“Finding a scapegoat for the Palisades occurrence is un-American,” said Haney, who is good known for representing sports figures successful criminal proceedings.

Haney said he has seen the expansive assemblage indictment against his client, but the national authorities has not yet offered to show him immoderate grounds successful the case. His customer has not entered a plea connected the charges against him and he’s owed to look successful a national courtroom successful California successful the adjacent fewer weeks.

“He’s eager for the truth to beryllium told,” Haney said Thursday about his client, whom he described arsenic doing good successful national detention successful Florida.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, moving pinch the Los Angeles Police Department, wished that the monolithic Palisades occurrence was a continuation of the mini Lachman fire, connected Jan. 1. L.A. firefighters believed they knocked it down but the occurrence continued to smolder beneath the world earlier reigniting amid fierce Santa Ana winds connected Jan. 7.

Federal prosecutors allege that Rinderknecht maliciously started the Lachman occurrence adjacent Skull Rock conscionable aft midnight connected New Year’s Day aft moving a displacement arsenic an Uber driver. Law enforcement officials utilized witnesser statements, video surveillance, cellphone data, and study of occurrence dynamics and patterns to find that Rinderknecht was responsible for the first ignition, prosecutors said.

The Palisades occurrence killed 12 people, scorched 23,400 acres — an area about 1.5 times the size of Manhattan — and leveled much than 6,800 structures.

On Rinderknecht’s phone, investigators recovered an AI-generated image of a burning metropolis pinch group trying to flee, according to Bill Essayli, acting U.S. lawyer for the Central District of California.

Two Uber passengers whom Rinderknecht drove connected abstracted trips betwixt 10:15 and 11:15 p.m. connected New Year’s Eve told rule enforcement that he appeared angry and agitated.

After dropping disconnected a rider successful Pacific Palisades, he parked adjacent Skull Rock Trailhead and walked up the way while listening to a brooding French rap opus whose euphony video shows trash connected fire, prosecutors allege.

Rinderknecht’s parents unrecorded successful France, wherever his begetter is simply a citizen, according to Shawn Hurley, a pastor pinch Meadowbrook Baptist Church successful Lima, Ohio, who has known the family for 30 years.

Rinderknecht has besides spent clip successful France, but was surviving successful a Hollywood flat astatine the clip he allegedly started the Lachman fire. Environmental sensors first detected that blaze astatine 12:12 a.m. connected Jan. 1.

Within the adjacent 5 minutes, Rinderknecht attempted calling 911 respective times but could not get done until he arrived astatine the bottommost of the way and regained cellphone service, prosecutors said. By that time, a adjacent resident had already contacted authorities.

Rinderknecht told rule enforcement that he first saw the occurrence from the bottommost of the trail; however, information from his iPhone showed that he was opinionated 30 feet from the occurrence arsenic it quickly grew, prosecutors allege.

The Los Angeles Fire Department, which been criticized for failing to pre-deploy capable resources during the fire-weather conditions connected Jan. 7 erstwhile the Palisades occurrence ignited, is now facing scrutiny complete whether it could person done much to forestall the rekindling of the Lachman fire.

Staff writer Clara Harter contributed to this report.