A federal judge has declared a mistrial in the case of Jonathan Rinderknecht, who is accused of starting the Palisades Fire. The government plans to hold a new trial in October.

一名聯邦法官在 Jonathan Rinderknecht 案中宣布審理不當（mistrial），他被指控引起 Palisades 火災。政府計劃於十月重新審判。

The trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, a former ride-share driver, ended without a final decision because the jury could not agree. While ten out of twelve jurors wanted to find him not guilty, the prosecution argued that Rinderknecht started the fire due to environmental concerns and a dislike of wealthy people. However, defense lawyer Steve Haney emphasized that the government did not have enough evidence and claimed his client was being unfairly blamed. Jurors noted that the strong arguments from defense experts contributed to the deadlock.

前共乘司機 Jonathan Rinderknecht 的審判由於陪審團未能達成共識而結束，未能做出最終裁決。雖然十二名陪審員中有十名希望判定其無罪，但檢方主張 Rinderknecht 是出於對環境問題的關注以及對富人的反感而放火。然而，辯護律師 Steve Haney 強調政府缺乏足夠證據，並聲稱其當事人被不公正地指責。陪審員指出，辯方專家強而有力的論點導致了此次僵局。

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani suggests that this result might be an example of 'jury nullification.' This happens when a jury refuses to convict a defendant because they disagree with the law or are unhappy with the authorities. In this case, the public may be frustrated with the Los Angeles Fire Department and city leaders regarding their disaster planning. Furthermore, Rahmani believes that the nine-month delay between the fire and the arrest may have increased this negative feeling.

前聯邦檢察官 Neama Rahmani 認為，這一結果可能是「陪審團無視法庭指令」（jury nullification）的例子。當陪審團因為不同意法律或對當局不滿而拒絕定罪被告時，就會發生這種情況。在本案中，大眾可能對洛杉磯消防局和城市領導者的災害規劃感到失望。此外，Rahmani 認為火災發生後到被捕之間長達九個月的延遲，可能加劇了這種負面情緒。

Additionally, Rahmani warns that a similar risk exists in the upcoming trial of Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Because many people feel sympathy for Mangione or are angry at the healthcare industry, there is a high chance of another nullification. She also highlighted the danger of 'stealth jurors'—people who hide their true opinions to influence the verdict. Rahmani concludes that social media and political division are making it harder for juries to remain neutral in famous cases.

此外，Rahmani 警告，在即將審理的 Luigi Mangione 案中也存在類似風險，Mangione 被指控殺害 UnitedHealthcare 執行長 Brian Thompson。由於許多人同情 Mangione 或對醫療保健產業感到憤怒，很有可能再次出現無視指令的情況。她還強調了「隱形陪審員」（stealth jurors）的危險——即某些人隱藏真實觀點以影響判決。Rahmani 總結認為，社交媒體和政治分歧使得陪審團在知名案件中更難保持中立。

Jonathan Rinderknecht will remain in prison until his retrial in mid-October, while experts continue to warn about the difficulty of finding impartial juries in high-profile legal battles.

Jonathan Rinderknecht 將被囚禁直到十月中旬重新審判，而專家持續警告，在備受關注的法律戰中很難找到公正的陪審員。