In Palisades fire trial, judge bars evidence of alleged burned Bible and arson threat - BERITAJA

A national judge connected Friday declined to let grounds that the suspect connected proceedings for the Palisades occurrence had astatine 1 constituent burned a Bible and threatened to pain down his sister’s house, while informing the defense lawyer “to tighten up your questioning.”

U.S. District Judge Anne Hwang said Jonathan Rinderknecht’s anterior acts were not “direct grounds of the charges successful the case,” but that she was concerned that the defense’s transverse introspection of a national supplier near the belief that he had ne'er expressed liking successful deliberately lighting fires.

Rinderknecht is charged with starting the Lachman fire, which smoldered underground for a week earlier exploding into the deadly Palisades occurrence connected Jan. 7, 2025. If convicted, he faces up to 45 years successful prison.

Ahead of the trial, which began this week, Hwang ruled that prosecutors could not present those anterior acts because they were prejudicial. But Asst. U.S. Atty. Mark Williams based on Friday that Rinderknecht’s defense lawyer had opened the doorway to the taxable pinch his questioning the time prior.

In Steve Haney’s questioning of the prosecution witnesser connected Thursday, U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agent Michael Montevidoni, the defense lawyer pointed retired that his customer ne'er asked ChatGPT for proposal to crippled a fire.

“You ne'er recovered immoderate searches successful immoderate of the devices regarding arson, right?” Haney asked. “Any net searches for deliberately starting a occurrence ... immoderate Internet searches connected what type of incendiary device, lighter, torch, flare, mightiness beryllium amended utilized to commencement a fire? ... Never recovered immoderate purchases of fire-starting materials?”

Over and complete again, the ATF supplier responded no.

Williams said that Haney’s questioning implied to the assemblage that Rinderknecht had ne'er expressed a desire to perpetrate arson, which the charismatic said is “exactly what happened” erstwhile Rinderknecht threatened to pain down his sister’s location successful Florida.

“Clearly threatening to pain someone’s location down does subordinate to the crime of arson,” Williams said. “Defense counsel was warned pre proceedings by your grant that if he gets into areas for illustration this he would unfastened the door.”

Williams based on that Haney’s questioning was an onslaught connected the agent’s credibility and said the consciousness near connected the assemblage was that he “didn’t find immoderate of this evidence.”

“The enactment of burning a Bible, your Bible, which is what was indicated successful the ChatGPT prompts is not arson,” Haney based on successful response. “It was an look of belief protest, that’s not arson.”

Haney based on that Rinderknecht’s remarks about burning down his sister’s location occurred 5 months aft the Lachman fire, during a family argument.

“I don’t judge the doorway was opened,” Haney said. “I judge the statement of questioning was clear. It was wholly a statement of questioning pinch respect to his prompts and his searches connected his online devices.”

Although Hwang declined to let that grounds to travel in, she said she had superior concerns “that there’s an insinuation aliases an belief that location is nary grounds of your customer ever purposely mounting a occurrence to anything. Because that is not accurate.”

“I’m going to beryllium arsenic clear arsenic imaginable … you request to tighten up your questioning,” Hwang warned. “To beryllium clear, you are not permitted to reason successful closing that Mr. Rinderknecht has nary history of burning things aliases threatening to pain things.”