Palisades Fire Suspect Says ATF Agent Biased, Cites Past Case Play

Attorneys for Jonathan Rinderknecht say they can prove bias against the alleged Palisades Fire arsonist by a federal arson investigator. And the defense wants to put a U.S. BATF arson investigator on trial.

Rinderknecht is charged with setting the small New Year's Eve fire in Pacific Palisades — the fire that six days later exploded into the Palisades Fire. Twelve people were killed and $50 billion went up in flames in that fire.

In federal court in Los Angeles yesterday, attorneys for Rinderknecht requested that the judge allow evidence from a previous case involving ATF Special Agent Matthew Beals. Beals is one of the investigators in the current case against Rinderknecht.

Beals was the lead ATF agent in the arson investigation of Navy Seaman Ryan Mays, who was accused of igniting a 2020 fire aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego. A military court acquitted Mays of all charges after a two-week trial.

Defense attorneys say the failed aircraft carrier arson investigation "bears extraordinary and unmistakable similarities to the investigation Agent Beals has conducted against Mr. Rinderknecht in the present case." They say the aircraft carrier arson case reveals a pattern, motive, and systematic bias that is directly relevant to the jury's assessment of Agent Beals' credibility, methodology, and conclusions in this case.

Judge Anne Hwang heard a series of motions yesterday that would decide what exhibits are admissible at next month's trial and who is allowed to testify.

Rinderknecht's attorney Steve Haney took a swipe at the prosecution theory last weekend in an email to a reporter from NewsNation.

"The offered motive that my client started a fire on New Year's Eve because he did not have a date speaks for itself," Haney wrote.