Trial date set for teen charged in deputy's death


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PROVO — A trial was set Monday for a woman charged in the death of Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Cory Wride.

If she doesn't take a plea deal, Meagan Dakota Grunwald, 18, of Draper, will stand trial before a jury a little more than a year after the January shooting. The trail was set to begin Feb. 10, 2015, and is scheduled for nine days over three weeks.

Prosecutors originally expected the trial to last three full weeks, but the trial was shortened to nine days because the portions being examined by a jury are largely undisputed, according to prosecutor Samuel Pead.

"A lot of what we anticipate going on in trial is not really contested," Pead said. "This case is really going to come down to what the jury believes (Grunwald's) motivation was and whether it was out of love and support for her boyfriend or whether it was under compulsion."

Pead added that given its significance, Grunwald's case has progressed fairly quickly.

"I think we moved the case along well," he said.

Grunwald's attorney, Dean Zabriskie, said there's a measure of relief in having a date set for the trial.

"She's a little girl," Zabriskie said. "She wants to get this resolved. She's locked up in a rather cold and harsh world."

Grunwald faces charges in connection with the Jan. 30 crime spree that led to the shooting death of Wride and severely injured Utah County sheriff's deputy Greg Sherwood.

Police say Grunwald acted as the getaway driver for her boyfriend, Jose Angel Garcia-Juaregui, who was believed to have fired the shots at police.

Grunwald was charged in 4th District Court as an adult at age 17 with aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and aggravated robbery — all first-degree felonies.

She was also charged with criminal mischief, a second-degree felony, two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, possession or use of a controlled substance, and failure to respond at the command of police, all third-degree felonies; criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor; and violation of operator duties for an accident involving property damage, a class B misdemeanor.

She pleaded not guilty to all counts on May 12.

Pretrial conferences were scheduled in Grunwald's case for Nov. 3 and Jan. 12, as well as an oral argument hearing for Jan. 19.

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Morgan Jacobsen

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