PODCAST:
May 22, 2026 ~ Attorney Steve Haney discusses the latest courtroom developments involving the Palisades fire suspect, breaking down what happened and what comes next legally.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. ~ Jonathan Rinderknecht, who is accused of setting a fire that started the destructive Palisades fire that happened in early Jan., will start his trail on June 8th after pleading not guilty.
A federal judge has now ruled that certain testimony criticizing the fire department’s response cannot be presented at trial, while also blocking prosecutors from using AI-generated images allegedly created by the defendant because they were considered highly prejudicial.
Rinderknecht’s Attorney Steve Haney claims that the fires were started by fireworks from New Years and not by an arsonist, which he says has historically been a problem in the area.
“We’ll have witnesses that will come in that will testify to hearing fireworks that night right after midnight before the fire started. It’s a circumstantial arson case with no real direct evidence of arson. So it’ll be a challenge, I think, for the government to establish beyond a reasonable doubt to 12 jurors that this is an act of arson instead of an act of a New Year’s Eve firework,” Haney said on All Talk.
