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OGDEN — Prosecutors filed a motion Tuesday asking that a 16-year-old boy accused of orchestrating a bomb plot at Roy High School be tried as an adult.
The motion to certify Joshua Kyler Hoggan as an adult and move his case out of juvenile court came at the same time a charge of use of a weapon of mass destruction, a first-degree felony, was filed against the teenager in 2nd District Juvenile Court.
Hoggan and Dallin Todd Morgan, 18, were arrested Jan. 25 after a student at the school alerted officials of some disturbing text messages. Police believe the pair was planning to bomb the school during an assembly and escape on an airplane they intended to steal from nearby Ogden-Hinckley Airport.
Morgan and Hoggan face identical charges. The only distinction between the two defendants is their age.
• "These offenses were especially serious given the fact that the offense was directed against the entire student body and staff of Roy High School as well as the threat of extensive property damage."
• "The alleged offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated and willful manner."
• "The offense was directed against a number of people."
• "The threat was against a school."
• "The defendant's emotional attitude, pattern of living, environment and home life demonstrate that he has sufficient maturity to appreciate the seriousness of these charges and to be tried as an adult."
Prosecutors believe Hoggan's case should be in district court because Morgan, a fellow high school senior and his co-defendant, is facing charges there as an adult. Morgan faces the same charge of use of a weapon of mass destruction, a first-degree felony, and is scheduled to appear in court for an initial appearance Wednesday.
Police did not locate any explosives, but the elements of the charges against both Morgan and Hoggan include possessing, displaying, attempting to use, soliciting the use of, or conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction, or that they assisted, encouraged or solicited someone else to do the same.
According to a police affidavit filed Jan. 26, Hoggan sent a number of text messages detailing the plan and explaining that he and Morgan wanted "revenge on the world."
Legal experts weigh in
Salt Lake City defense attorney Greg Skordas says the decision to seek adult charges for Hoggan will be a challenge for prosecutors. They'll have to prove Hoggan is not only a menace to himself, but society as well -- and it's equally as much about the defendant as the crime.
"A judge is going to have to weigh certain factors," Skordas said. "Does (Hoggan) have the knowledge, the ability to make decisions the same as an adult? Does he have sort of the thinking errors, like a child, how should he be treated personally?"
Prosecutors attempted to answer that question in the initial filing for adult offender status Tuesday. One statement from the motion to certify reads, "The defendant's emotional attitude, pattern of living, environment and home life demonstrate that he has sufficient maturity to appreciate the seriousness of these charges and to be tried as an adult."
Related
At school, a threat is a threat
In the post-Columbine world of school security, can law enforcement or school officials take any threat lightly? The events at Roy High School on January 26, cause us to re-examine this question.Another aspect the juvenile court judge must consider: Can Hoggan be rehabilitated, which is the aim of juvenile court? Or does he deserve a more harsh punishment more fitting of an adult?
Former prosecutor Kent Morgan said the court will need to consider the nature of the offense. "What is the crime? Is that crime something so terrible and so severe that there's a danger to society that outweighs the rehabilitation of the juvenile?"
Because Hoggan is still classified as a juvenile at this point, not much is known about the next hearing, which could go a long way in determining his status moving forward.
Hoggan fascinated with Columbine, school security
Hoggan told Roy police officer Tyler Tomlinson, who works as a resource officer at Roy High School, that he was fascinated with the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and had even gone to Colorado to interview the school's principal about it.
"Joshua told me he was offended that he was compared to the Columbine killers," Tomlinson wrote. "Joshua was offended by the fact that those killers only completed 1 percent of their plan and he was much more intelligent than that.
"Joshua explained to me that he could complete his plan due to how intelligent he is."
Morgan also "admitted to being part of the plan," Tomlinson wrote.
Police investigators found a map of the school that showed security cameras and their blind spots. They also say Hoggan and Morgan purchased an advanced flight-simulator computer program and "logged hundreds of hours" on it.
In another text, Hoggan allegedly wrote: "I've just been kinda planning my get back at the world thing and I figured if you had anyone you wanted revenge on, I could see if I have anything planned."
Joshua was offended by the fact that those killers only completed 1 percent of their plan and he was much more intelligent than that.
–- Tyler Tomlinson
In the April 23, 2010, edition of the Roy High School newspaper, The Round Table, Hoggan wrote a front-page article about mass killings at schools such as Columbine and Virginia Tech and addressed what actions were being taken at Roy High to prevent similar events. In the article, Hoggan outlined what law enforcement resources were available to the school and how the school was prepared for incidents ranging from intruders to bomb threats.
Hoggan referred to the security cameras installed at the school and monitored by school resource officers, drills that are held and training for officers assigned to the school.
"Also, these measures alone can’t stop someone if they are truly determined to cause a catastrophic event," Hoggan wrote. "According to (then-school Principal Roy) Pfister, one of the other important ways that plots are thwarted is by student awareness."
Hoggan quoted Pfister as saying that, in his two years at the school, he had not fielded comments from students about a possible "hostile intrusion." Hoggan reported on vulnerable rooms in the school and other potential safety measures.
"Of course, school should not be like a military base or the secure area of an airport," he wrote. "However, Roy High is definitely lacking on proactive, preventative security measures that would aim to protect and serve Roy High faculty and students. Yes, there have been no indications of such a catastrophic event happening at Roy High, and hopefully it remains that way. Yet, it is imperative that we take measures to be better prepared to deal with a hostile intruder, so that our Roy High community won’t be like fish in a barrel in the event this does happen."
Columbine High School Principal Frank DeAngelis confirmed to the Deseret News that he met with Hoggan on Dec. 15, 2011, after the 16-year-old told him he was writing a story for his school newspaper about the 1999 shooting incident. No subsequent article from Hoggan involving the school was published.
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Story written by Emiley Morgan and Andrew Wittenberg.
