By Linhchi Nguyen
SACRAMENTO – A stubborn defendant appears to be headed to a Halloween month trial after he rejected what his attorney, the prosecutor and judge said was a generous offer Tuesday here in Sacramento County Superior Court.
A frustrated Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kennedy said she was at her “wit’s end” when Defendant Grame Kanongataa rejected a plea bargain, a six-year sentence, although he may face a harsher punishment of up to 16 years in prison if convicted at trial.
Judge Patrick Marlette reviewed the numerous charges at Kanongataa’s preliminary hearing. These charges include unlawful manufacture of BHO (butane hash oil), child endangerment, property arson, possession of marijuana, and animal cruelty. Kanongataa is also on probation for the same first three counts that were listed, after serving a year in custody.
Prosecutor Kennedy detailed the evidence found in the defendant’s home, noting, “There was dog feces on the bed presumptively, there was 20 pounds of marijuana located throughout the home, there were bugs in the refrigerator…the toilet was cracked where the child was barefoot, he could have stepped on porcelain.”
She added that the probation officer testified that there was a BHO manufacturing lab with at least “six empty butane cans [and] glass extraction tubes.
“The probation officer testified that it’s one of the most deplorable homes that he has been in,” DDA Kennedy claimed, and said Kanongataa’s exposure would add up to 16 years of state prison. 
Judge Marlette perceived that even if the defendant were given a benefit of the doubt on the child endangerment and arson cases, “the best I could ever consider giving (the defendant) is nine years, four months.”
However, defense attorney Byron Roope previously suggested six years, consisting of a low term on the child endangerment charge and a midterm on both the possession of marijuana and animal cruelty charges.
Despite not necessarily agreeing with how the six years were calculated, prosecutor Kennedy said the offer would work, explaining, “I don’t have a problem with the six-year offer for this defendant if he took it today. I could talk to Mr. Roope about how we got there.”
Under this offer, the defendant would plead to one count of child endangerment and one count of animal cruelty, admit his violation of probation, and admit the BOP (Bureau of Prisons) time—for an aggregate term of six years.
The defense attorney stated that he has already explained to Kanongataa that “his exposure would be much higher than that.”
Roope also informed Kanongataa that “if he were to plead to that, he would be eligible for Prop. 57 release,” which would approve the defendant for release to community supervision after serving the full term of his primary offense.
However, despite efforts from both the defense attorney and prosecutor in reducing the sentence, presumably in Kanongataa’s favor and despite the defendant indicating at the last court date that the offer seemed to be acceptable, the defendant ultimately rejected the offer.
“With that, we’re asking to come back on the 16th and maybe have a little bit more conversation on his max. exposure. And what he can expect if he were to lose that trial,” Roope requested.
In a heated response, Prosecutor Kennedy expressed her frustration over the decision, saying, “I am absolutely at my wit’s end with Mr. Kanongataa. From what I understand, he’ll go to the defense attorney, saying ‘let’s consider this,’ and then we’ll look at it. And then he does something different.
“So, I am not making any assurances that coming back with him wanting to set this for trial… where I’m going to be in any place where I want to or should continue to try to negotiate,” she continued. “We have put this over so many times for that purpose. And defense counsel knows this; he knows the frustration. But I’m not saying this offer stays open until then. In fact, I think it’s wise that I withdraw any offer right now.”
“What I’m fighting for is for you to understand everything that’s going on. And if you’re walking into a bus stall. I want to tell ya that you’re walking into a bus stall,” Judge Marlette warned the defendant.
Judge Marlette then asked the defendant for the last time whether he is rejecting the six-year offer.
A silence passed as the defendant hesitated to answer. Finally, Kanongataa asked to talk to the defense attorney privately “for a second,” in which Judge Marlette responded, “I’m going to put a clock on it. You got about a minute.”
Over two minutes passed. Then the defense attorney said, “We tried so hard, Your Honor. Mr. Kanongataa is rejecting the offer with the district attorney.”
Defense Attorney Roope and Prosecutor Kennedy will check in on Sept. 16 to make sure they will be ready to go for the first day of trial. The trial is scheduled to start Oct. 1.
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