A 19-year-old Georgia college student who is on probation after a fatal car wreck will not be able to study abroad until his sentence is complete, a Coweta County judge ruled Wednesday.
Jackson Hill Ridgeway appeared in court after filing a motion to modify his probation, asking the court to allow him to travel to China to meet a requirement for his college course work at the University of North Georgia.
But the judge denied the motion without hearing any arguments from Coweta County prosecutors, according to the district attorney’s office.
“Allowing you to leave the country in essence is allowing you not to even be on probation,” Judge Allen Keeble said, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Ridgeway was convicted of two counts of serious injury by vehicle and one count of first-degree homicide by vehicle in connection with a 2017 wreck on Cedar Creek Road in Newnan.
The crash killed Kathryn Stephens, a 24-year-old bride-to-be, and left her fiance in a wheelchair, according to Channel 2. Stephens’ father Allen, who was also in the car, was severely injured.
In June 2018, Ridgeway was sentenced to eight years with the first three years to serve in prison. However, he was required to serve out that prison time only if he didn’t complete 90-120 days of boot camp, pay a $1,000 fine and perform 300 hours of community service.
That non-negotiated guilty plea wasn’t the recommendation of the district attorney’s office, according to a statement. The DA had sought prison time.
“At that guilty plea and sentencing hearing, District Attorney Herb Cranford argued to the court that Mr. Ridgeway should be incarcerated for these crimes,” the statement said. “Mr. Cranford explained to the court during the sentencing hearing that it is his belief, and the policy of his office, that in cases in which an innocent life is lost as a result of a felony, incarceration is the just and appropriate sentence.”
Ridgeway is majoring in Strategic and Security studies and minoring in Chinese, the university admissions office confirmed to AJC.com on Wednesday. Nine to 15 credit hours spent studying abroad are required as part of that major, according to program director Edward Mienie.
“That’s because this is the only interdisciplinary degree program the university offers,” Mienie said. He said the few, very selective exceptions to the study abroad rule are occasions when students are offered a domestic internship that fulfills the requirement.
Ridgeway’s attorney said he filed the motion to modify the terms of his probation in order to meet the program requirement, Channel 2 reported.
Though the district attorney’s office was not called to present an argument, it said it was prepared to oppose the modification.
“First, the state was not inclined to modify the sentence in light of the fact that the state had previously sought incarceration,” a statement said. “Second, leaving sentences unmodified is often in the interest of justice as it allows the victims and victims’ families to have some closure.”
It’s unclear how the denial impacts Ridgeway’s ability to graduate. The program has not encountered a situation like this before, Mienie said.
Kathryn Stephens’ family said it is thankful the request was denied, according to Channel 2.
“He needs to appear just like he's supposed to be appearing to his probation officer in person,” Allen Stephens said.
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