By Joseph Campbell and Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -The man accused of deliberately setting the blaze that grew into one of the most devastating wildfires in Los Angeles history, killing 12 people and incinerating thousands of homes, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to three federal arson-related charges.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, is charged with “maliciously” starting a fire on January 1 that was quickly suppressed but continued to smolder beneath dense vegetation near Pacific Palisades before reigniting a week later amid fierce winds.
At an arraignment on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Rozella Oliver in federal court in Los Angeles, he pleaded not guilty to three felony counts in a grand jury indictment returned on October 15 – arson, destruction of property by means of fire and illegally setting timber afire.
If convicted as charged, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of 45 years behind bars.
Rinderknecht, who was arrested earlier this month in Florida and appeared in court in shackles and wearing white jail garb, was ordered to remain held without bond as he awaits trial.
The bearded defendant tried to insist to the judge that he wanted to “talk about” his detention, but his lawyer, Steve Haney, cut him off. A trial date of December 16 was set.
In seeking bail for his client, Haney had argued that his client essentially was being charged with an arson allegedly committed seven days before a much larger fire for which he is being blamed.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Haney questioned the fairness of a legal theory blaming Rinderknecht for the supposed reignition of a fire that had not been adequately extinguished.
“So why are they blaming him for whatever the fire department didn’t do?” Haney asked rhetorically, adding that the defense was not conceding prosecutors’ assertion that one fire was a continuation of another.
Haney said his client has no prior criminal record and no documented history of mental illness.
The indictment holds Rinderknecht responsible for one of the most destructive Los Angeles fires on record, a conflagration that laid waste to the affluent coastal foothill community of Pacific Palisades. The blaze leveled some 6,000 structures, with property damage estimated at $150 billion.
According to prosecutors, Rinderknecht had been working as an Uber driver on New Year’s Eve before dropping a passenger off and heading to a hilltop trail near Pacific Palisades, where he once lived.
Once there, according to court documents, he listened to a rap song whose music video depicted things being set on fire, then proceeded to light a real blaze shortly after midnight and fled the scene, only to return a short time later to watch the flames and firefighters.
The Palisades fire coincided with another massive wind-driven blaze about 35 miles (56 km) to the east known as the Eaton Fire, which wiped out much of the community of Altadena.
(Reporting by Joseph Campbell in Los Angeles. Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles. Editing by Stephen Coates)
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