A judge Friday declared a mistrial in the sanity phase of the trial of a German man convicted of being a serial arsonist responsible for setting at least 50 fires across Hollywood and neighboring areas five years ago. On Sept. 1, the same jury convicted Burkhart of 47 arson-related felony counts and two counts of possession of an incendiary device. After the first day of deliberations in the sanity phase, the jury informed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli they might deadlocked. At the time of the arson attacks, Burkhart was already suspected of burning down his family home in Germany's Schwalm-Eder district, north of Frankfurt. Sean Carney has insisted that Burkhart ignited the fires — mostly under cars in carports — as revenge against authorities for detaining his mother.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 17, 2016 02:26 UTC