One of five defendants charged in connection with the burning of police cars during protests held in Central Arkansas in 2020 in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis the previous May walked out of a federal courthouse in Little Rock with her case still unresolved, after a planned plea hearing ended without a plea.
After extensive questioning by Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. regarding her plan to plead guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device in exchange for the dismissal of a bevy of other charges, Renea Goddard, 24, asked the judge for more time to consider her plea.
In December 2020, Goddard was named in a criminal complaint along with fellow Black Lives Matter protesters Brittany Dawn Jeffrey, 33; Aline Espinosa-Villega, 26; and Emily Nowlin, 29. The following February, in a superseding indictment, the cases of Goddard and her three co-defendants were merged with that of local community activist Mujera Benjamin Lung'aho, 32, who was accused earlier in 2020 of firebombing a North Little Rock police cruiser after he was arrested for vandalism of Confederate markers at a Little Rock cemetery.
The complaint tied Goddard and her other three co-defendants with the earlier actions of Lung'aho. All activities occurred in the wake of the George Floyd protests that spread throughout the country in the wake of the Minneapolis man's killing by police officer Derek Chauvin, who was seen on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes while the handcuffed man struggled to breathe.
In court Wednesday, Goddard was represented by Cara Boyd Connors of Little Rock, who was sitting in for Goddard's appointed attorney, Dominique King. King's absence was part of the reasoning given for delaying the hearing, following a 40-minute recess during which Goddard reviewed the plea agreement with Connors, despite her earlier assurances that she wished to move forward with the plea hearing in her attorney's absence.
Were Goddard to plead guilty to the charge, she could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine upon sentencing, although Marshall told her the actual sentence could not be ascertained in advance because of numerous factors contained in the U.S. sentencing guidelines.
"There's a long way between zero and 10 years," Marshall said. "That's the uncertainty I want to address."
"I understand the uncertainty," Goddard said.
Her attorney, Marshall said, can make an educated guess regarding her possible sentence based on her experience in having cases before him, seeing how he conducts his courtroom and reviewing similar sentencing calculations. But, the judge said, the final sentence would be entirely up to him.
"They can make a prediction but it's not a promise," the judge said. "If you are disappointed in the sentence I ultimately decide on, that disappointment is not sufficient for me to give you back your plea and go to trial."
Marshall asked if she had read the agreement, to which Goddard answered affirmatively.
"More than once?" he asked.
"I was aware already of what I would be agreeing to and I learned a little more about the specifics going over it a little while ago with my attorney," Goddard said. "There's nothing new, nothing I didn't understand before, just some clarity so I understand all of it."
"Ideally, there's more time for the person in your chair to scrutinize the paperwork," Marshall said. "Do you want me to recess the hearing so you have more time to ponder the papers?"
"I don't think that's necessary," Goddard repeated.
"Here's the thing," Marshall said. "This is a most important decision on whether to plead guilty or go to trial. I understand that we waited, I don't know, 30 minutes past the start time so Ms. Connors could review the documents with you, but I don't want to rush things, because your decision needs to be considered -- not to say it's not at this moment -- I just don't want to go forward if you prefer to wait."
"Honestly, I think I'm confident in my decision at this point," Goddard said. "At this point I know more details but nothing that would have changed my mind."
After outlining the plea agreement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacy Williams said the prosecution would move to dismiss the remaining charges against Goddard upon her entry of a guilty plea. But following Williams' recitation of the underlying facts of the case, in which she described the events of the night of Aug. 25, 2020, Marshall balked at the charge.
"I'm not sure I heard anything among those facts indicating that Ms. Goddard possessed the Molotov Cocktail," he said. "Count Nine, as I read it, says that she and the others knowingly possessed the firearm ... what are the facts about her possession?"
"It is the United States' position that they jointly possessed the firearm," Williams said. "Although Ms. Goddard did not throw it, as two of her co-defendants did, she was still jointly in possession the entire time ... Everyone in the vehicle would be jointly in possession."
Following that, Marshall asked one more time if Goddard wished to take a break to consider her plea. This time, she acquiesced, withdrawing with Connors for a 40-minute recess.
When court resumed, Goddard told the judge she had received answers to any remaining questions.
"But I see you sitting there with your purse over your shoulder," Marshall chuckled. "Does that mean you're ready to go and you do not want to proceed with the plea?"
"Yes, sir," Goddard said. "That's correct."
Connors told Marshall she was uncomfortable advising Goddard on a plea at that time considering the questions asked by the judge weighed against her limited knowledge of the case.
"I do not think, in good conscience," Connors said, "that I should be counsel for her in this change of plea."
Noting the age of the case -- two years in October -- Marshall said he is not inclined to delay the Sept. 22 trial date, "if we are going to trial."
Lung'aho and Nowlin are scheduled to go to trial Sept. 22, as is Goddard absent a plea agreement.