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Provo • A Draper teen charged in connection with a January shootout — in which she and her boyfriend allegedly tore through two counties as he shot and killed one police officer and wounded another — on Monday rejected a plea deal offered by prosecutors.
Meagan Dakota Grunwald, now 18, is charged as an adult with first-degree felony aggravated murder and 11 other charges related to the Jan. 30 death of Utah County Sgt. Cory Wride near Lehi, and the wounding of Utah County Sheriff's Deputy Greg Sherwood in Santaquin.
The rejection of the plea deal means a trial set for Feb. 10 in 4th District Court is likely to proceed as scheduled.
Grunwald is set to appear in court Jan 9 for oral arguments on motions yet to be filed.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Sam Pead said Monday the offer was that Grunwald would plead guilty to first-degree felony murder and third-degree felony counts of attempted robbery and aggravated assault. Pead said prosecutors would have recommended to the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole that the teen be released after 15 years in prison.
"She never came close to accepting that," defense attorney Dean Zabriskie said after the hearing. "Accepting that offer, which is a substantial step down from what she's facing, was never really an option. She felt comfortable rejecting it, realizing she could life-out [spend up to life in prison] if she loses. That's a risk we are aware of."
Zabriskie said the defense team was concerned that a guilty plea on a murder charge would send Grunwald to prison for a 15-years-to-life sentence, and there was no guarantee she would be released from prison after 15 years, or even at all.
"We're always open to some resolution," Zabriskie added. "But we're miles from it now."
Outside of court, Pead said prosecutors believed the plea offer was fair, but said it's unlikely they'll resolve the case before trial now.
"There's no plea offer at all," he said. "When she rejected the offer today, [now] there is no offer. Right now, there is nothing."
At trial, Grunwald's defense will be that she was forced by her boyfriend, 27-year-old Jose Angel Garcia-Jauregui, to be the driver during the Jan. 30 crime spree, according to Zabriskie.
"[It's] our primary defense in this case," Zabriskie said earlier this month. "That whatever happened was the end result of her being threatened, along with everybody else on the road that day. It was the end result of her being threatened by him and having a gun pointed at her during almost the entire episode. She had little choice."
Pead has said that prosecutors plan to argue at trial that Grunwald was a willing participant in the crime spree.
"This is a case where actions speak louder than words," Pead said earlier this month. "We haven't seen any evidence in this case that would show that she was compelled. We see a motive of love and loyalty."
He took information from Grunwald, who was allegedly driving the truck, and then sat back down inside his patrol car to cross-reference the information.
That's when the man in the passenger seat allegedly opened the back sliding window of the truck and opened fire.
Grunwald, who was 17 at the time of the alleged crimes, faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged. She is charged in adult court with 10 felonies and two misdemeanors in connection with the events, which also left Garcia-Jauregui dead.
Grunwald is being held at the Salt Lake County jail on a $1 million cash-only bail.
Twitter: @jm_miller