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PROVO — Defense attorneys for the woman accused of killing a Utah County Sheriff's deputy outlined their defense strategy at a hearing Monday morning in court and say she was compelled to cooperate in the violent crime spree earlier this year.
Meagan Dakota Grunwald appeared for a brief hearing Monday morning in court. Defense attorney Dean Zabriskie told the judge he has formally filed an outline of her defense at trial stating she was compelled to cooperate, citing her as a 17-year-old girl who had a gun to her head.
It is an argument that Grunwald's attorney believes will resonate with a jury because Grunwald is charged as an accomplice. Prosecutors have no evidence that she pulled the trigger, and the man she was with was shot and killed by police.
Even with those statements, prosecutors told the judge they are interested in resolving the case in a plea deal but set a deadline of Nov. 24 for the defense to take it.
If Grunwald does not take the plea deal, the specifics which have not been made public, she will stand trial in February.
