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OGDEN — A juvenile court judge on Wednesday scheduled a two-day preliminary hearing for a 16-year-old Roy High School senior accused of an elaborate plot to bomb Roy High School.
During the May 10-11 hearing, the judge is expected to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to order a trial and whether the teen can be prosecuted as an adult.
But after scheduling the hearing for Joshua Kyler Hoggan, 2nd District Juvenile Court Judge Janice Frost then closed her courtroom Wednesday.
"I understand there is a legitimate public concern and this is a high profile case," Frost said. "But there are very sensitive issues that I need to address in private."
Despite protests from reporters and requests to bring attorneys to argue that the hearing should be open the public, Frost ordered the media to leave the courtroom before Hoggan and his parents entered.
I understand there is a legitimate public concern and this is a high profile case. But there are very sensitive issues that I need to address in private.
–2nd District Juvenile Court Judge Janice Frost
Hoggan is facing a single charge of use of a weapon of mass destruction, a first-degree felony. Hoggan and fellow Roy High School student 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.
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."
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.
Morgan is facing the same charge of use of a weapon of mass destruction as an adult, in 2nd District Court. Prosecutors have filed a motion asking that Hoggan also be tried as an adult citing a number of reasons, including a desire to prosecute the pair in the same court.
Morgan's next court date is scheduled for Feb. 22. A hearing in advance of the preliminary hearing has been set for April 4 when the issue of public access to the court hearings will be discussed.
Email:emorgan@ksl.com
