Teen sentenced in deaths of Auburn announcer Rod Bramblett, wife Paula
Updated Apr 28, 2021;
The 18-year-old charged in the crash that killed Auburn announcer Rod Bramblett and his wife, Paula, was sentenced Wednesday.
The length of sentence for Johnston Edward Taylor, however, is not being released because he was granted youthful offender status earlier this month. The youthful offender status eliminated a jury trial and left his maximum punishment at three years.
Because of the confidentiality of the status, Taylor’s online records are no longer public. His attorney, Tommy Spina, said after sentencing, “The sentence was fair and balanced in light of all facts and circumstances.”
OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) A judge on Wednesday sentenced a teenager in connection with the 2019 crash that killed Auburn University sports announcer Rod Bramblett.
News outlets reported that the sentence for Johnston Edward Taylor, 18, was not released because he was granted youthful offender status. The status can be granted to defendants younger than 21 and can result in reduced penalties than if they had been sentenced as an adult.
Taylor had faced two counts of reckless manslaughter for the 2019 crash that killed Bramblett and his wife Paula. Taylor was 16 at the time of the crash. As a youthful offender, Taylor had faced a maximum sentence of three years.
“The sentence imposed was somewhere between a slap on the wrist and exacting a pound of flesh,” Taylor’s lawyer, Tommy Spina, told The Opelika-Auburn New s. “It was between those two extremes.”
Spina told the newspaper that he was limited on what he could say about the case because of Taylor’s status as a youthful offender.
Lee County District Attorney Pro Tem Jessica Ventiere declined to comment on the case.
Authorities allege Taylor was driving about 90 mph (145 kph) in a 55 mph (90 kph) zone when he rear-ended the Brambletts’ vehicle in Auburn. Bramblett and his wife Paula were killed, but Taylor wasn’t seriously injured.
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Question of the Day By - Associated Press - Wednesday, April 14, 2021
OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) - An 18-year-old charged in the wreck that killed an Auburn University broadcaster and his wife will face reduced punishment after being granted youthful offender status.
Johnston Edward Taylor can receive a maximum sentence of three years following the decision by a Circuit Judge P.B. McLauchlin judge in Opelika on Tuesday. A plea hearing is set for April 28 in Lee County, his decision showed.
Taylor originally was charged as an adult with reckless homicide in a crash that killed Rod and Paula Bramblett in May 2019 when he was 16. A conviction can carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.