Youthful Offender? Boggus - Yes; Johnson - No

Above is Ryan Tolliver Johnson. He was 19 in 2017 when he wrecked a UTV, killing one person and seriously injuring a second.

Above is Kathleen Emma Boggus. She was 16 in 2018 when she wrecked a passenger car, killing three people and seriously injuring one more.

Boggus was recently given youthful offender status for her criminal trial; Johnson was not. What were the differences? Below we'll compare the two in various areas. Boggus' data will appear first; Johnson's second.

Gender:

Female, Male

Age at time of Accident:

16, 19

Dead:

Three, One

Illegal Passengers:

Three, Three

Intoxicated:

No, Yes

Illegal Operating Area:

No, Yes (immediately before accident)

Unauthorized Vehicle Use:

No, Yes

Disregard for Passenger Safety Requests:

Yes, No (As far as is known)

Judge/Jurisdiction:

Self - Lauderdale County, Self - Lauderdale County

There you have the basics. Some readers have suggested shady goings on; however, there are enough differences in the two cases to present a very large gap in the degree of guilt each driver should shoulder. Does that mean we believe Judge Self made the correct ruling regarding Kate Boggus? All we can say is that we're glad we didn't have to make that decision ourselves.

In Order to Feel Remorse, One Must First Possess a Conscience