The 18 year old charged in the car crash that claimed the lives of Auburn announcer Rod Bramblett and his wife, Paula, back in 2019, has been granted youthful offender status.
Johnston Edward Taylor stands charged with manslaughter in that May 25th incident which resulted in the deaths of the couple.
Taylor’s bond was first revoked in December, 2019, after receiving a pair of speeding tickets and a reckless driving citation seven months after the deadly crash. He is still facing another possible bond revocation. According to the newest bond revocation request, which is still pending – Taylor had positive screens for alcohol on March 1st, March 18th, and March 20th of this year.
Lee County Circuit Judge P.B. McLauchlin, a retired judge handling the case issued his order on Tuesday; in it, he wrote “At the time of the accident, the defendant was a 16-year-old teenager with no prior criminal history, who had smoked or used marijuana and had been diagnosed with marijuana use disorder; none of this justifies what happened; however, it does lend itself to treatment as a Youthful Offender.”
The youthful offender status will eliminate a jury trial – and the range of punishment goes from 2 to 20 years had he been tried as an adult to zero to three years maximum
(AL.COM/www.al.com)