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Provo • The trial for a Draper teen charged in connection with a January 2014 shootout — in which she and her boyfriend allegedly tore through two counties as he shot and killed one police officer and wounded another — has been delayed until April.
Meagan Dakota Grunwald, then 17, is charged as an adult with first-degree felony aggravated murder and 11 other charges related to the Jan. 30, 2014 death of Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Cory Wride near Lehi, and the wounding of Utah County sheriff's Deputy Greg Sherwood in Santaquin.
Grunwald's trial was expected to begin on Feb. 10, but during a short hearing on Friday, attorneys agreed to change the date to April 28 through May 8.
Defense attorney Dean Zabriskie said Friday that the continuance was necessary to get all of the numerous witnesses — possibly 50 people who will testify at trial — in line. He said in a written motion that the defense team also needs more time "to secure and develop expert testimony."
"When you are dealing with someone's life, you want to make sure you are prepared," Zabriskie said after Friday's court hearing.
Zabriskie said the plan was originally to "fast-track" the trial, because Grunwald is being held at the Salt Lake County jail until that trial. But he said the case has many nuances — including evidence from multiple crime scenes — that needed to be thoroughly examined before trial.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Sam Pead said Friday that prosecutors thought the defense team's request was "justified" and didn't oppose a continuance.
"We would have been prepared to go forward," Pead said of the February trial. "We wanted to make sure they were ready too."
Grunwald, now 18, will be in court again on Feb. 17 for oral arguments on several motions filed regarding what evidence can be presented at trial.
Zabriskie has said that Grunwald's defense at trial will be that she was forced by her boyfriend, 27-year-old Angel Garcia-Jauregui, to participate in the crime spree, which included acting as a getaway driver.
But prosecutors, who claim Grunwald acted willingly, are seeking to have evidence admitted at trial about the seriousness of her relationship with Garcia-Jauregui, who died a day after the crime spree after being shot and wounded by police in Nephi.
"[Grunwald] and Garcia conspired to do whatever it would take to be together," Chief Deputy Juab County Attorney AnnMarie Howard wrote in recently filed court papers. "…The deep mutual affection between them motivated [Grunwald] to act in a way that would preserve her ability to be with Garcia as opposed to acting out of compulsion."
Prosecutors want notes, cards and drawings exchanged between the couple admitted at trial. They also seek to have several of Grunwald's friends testify about the relationship, including that the couple had been dating for about six months before the shooting, that Garcia-Jauregui had given Grunwald a promise ring and that the couple planned to move to Mexico.
They also seek to have a Utah County sheriff's sergeant testify about how Grunwald was reluctant to give up a silver ring on her left-hand ring finger after the crime spree had ended.
Grunwald, who is being held in at the Salt Lake County jail on a $1 million cash-only bail, faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged.