The man accused of starting the Palisades fire should have had the case dropped after the firefighter admitted failure, attorney says

Jonathan Rinderknecht — The man charged with starting the Destroyer Palisades fire – He should no longer be on the hook for criminal charges After a new bomb certificate from the firefightersaccording to his lawyer.

Rinderknecht was indicted last year on three federal counts of arson for allegedly starting the smaller Lachman Fire in Palisades Heights — just six days before the blaze. Catastrophic barricade fire The area was torn apart. He pleaded not guilty and was held without bail for 150 days.

Steve Haney, Rinderknecht’s attorney, says recently released depositions showing firefighters admitting to leaving parts of the Lachman area burning undermine the prosecution’s story.

“Prosecutors were not aware of these critical failures when they sought an indictment, but they know now,” Haney said, promising more details at a news conference on Thursday.

He criticized the criminal complaint as a “blatantly false narrative” and said the new evidence called into question “the basis of the charges.”

The explosive testimony emerged as part of a lawsuit filed against the city of Los Angeles and the state of California Thousands of victims of the Palisades fire.

In one of the statements, Firefighter Scott Pike He described encountering hot spots on Jan. 2 — the day after the Lachman Fire — while cleaning hoses.

“I could feel the heat coming off of it,” Pike testified. “It was like a burning coal…still burning. I even heard a crackle.”

The US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California declined to comment, saying only: “We will see Mr. Rinderknecht in court.”