In Texas a 16 year old named Ethan Couch had about three times the legal amount (for drivers) of alcohol in his system last June when his vehicle struck and killed four people and injured two others.
He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and was given a slap on the wrist for those killing -- a sentence of 10 years probation.
The defense his lawyers successfully used to keep him out of prison was affluenza. Apparently that means he suffered abuse by virtue of being rich and having parents not care what he was up to.
From the Dallas Morning News.
Editorial: Despite four deaths, Tarrant judge buys affluenza excuse
Ethan Couch, the 16-year-old who admitted to four counts of intoxication manslaughter in a crash in Burleson last summer, was given 10 years probation Tuesday, the Tarrant County District Attorneys office said.
Published: 12 December 2013 07:19 PM
Updated: 13 December 2013 01:40 AM
Tarrant County prosecutors wanted Ethan Couch sentenced to 20 years in prison, which didnt seem unreasonable given his trail of death and destruction.
It wouldnt bring back the four lives he took June 15. It wouldnt heal two others still seriously injured, possibly forever. As a juvenile offender, he might get out on his 19th birthday, as the law allows; he might not.
But it would be something. A bit of comfort, perhaps, to loved ones still grieving. Some evidence that stealing, drinking and high-speed joy-riding not to mention killing and maiming are actions with consequences.
Except not in state District Judge Jean Boyds Tarrant County juvenile court. Here, the unspeakable carnage left by a spoiled, wealthy, drunken teen adds up to 10 years probation, not even a day in youth lockup.
Boyd apparently swallowed whole the defense argument that Couch was just a poor, little rich boy effectively abused by parents who set no boundaries and gave him everything except actual parenting. Affluenza, as a defense psychologist called it, or wealth assuming privilege.
The teen never learned to say that youre sorry, Gary Miller told the court. If you hurt someone, you sent him money.
The irony is obvious in Boyds sentence.
Couch managed to achieve his blissful wastedness by stealing beer from a Wal-Mart before driving a Ford F-350 registered to his dads company into two parked cars along Burleson-Retta Road in southern Tarrant County. Killed instantly were a stranded driver; a youth minister who had stopped to assist; and two other good Samaritans trying to help.
Of the seven other teens jammed into Couchs truck, two remain seriously injured. His blood alcohol tested at 0.24 percent. Thats three times the legal limit for an adult and infinity times what Texas law allows for a minor. He also had Valium in his system.
Sheriff Dee Anderson called it probably the most difficult accident scene weve ever had to work. Today, he wonders how to explain probation to his children and grandchildren. Apparently of little concern to Boyd was Couchs underage drinking arrest a few months earlier, this one involving beer, vodka and an even-younger teen.
Boyd, who is not running for re-election, sternly told Couch how responsible he was for so much pain and then treated him precisely as his parents always had. In effect, theyd never punished him before; how could she now?
Instead, she accepted the defense recommendation to send Couch back to what appears to be a very comfortable rehab center in Southern California. Couchs dad agreed to foot the annual $450,000 bill. Assume this is not an option available to the great majority of teen intoxication manslaughter defendants.
Despite all the death in his wake, Ethan Couch didnt learn a thing he didnt already know: That its far better to come from that wealthy place where actions seldom have mean, old consequences. Those are for the other guy.
Ethan Couch
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He pleaded guilty to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and was given a slap on the wrist for those killing -- a sentence of 10 years probation.
The defense his lawyers successfully used to keep him out of prison was affluenza. Apparently that means he suffered abuse by virtue of being rich and having parents not care what he was up to.
From the Dallas Morning News.
Quote:
Editorial: Despite four deaths, Tarrant judge buys affluenza excuse
Ethan Couch, the 16-year-old who admitted to four counts of intoxication manslaughter in a crash in Burleson last summer, was given 10 years probation Tuesday, the Tarrant County District Attorneys office said.
Published: 12 December 2013 07:19 PM
Updated: 13 December 2013 01:40 AM
Tarrant County prosecutors wanted Ethan Couch sentenced to 20 years in prison, which didnt seem unreasonable given his trail of death and destruction.
It wouldnt bring back the four lives he took June 15. It wouldnt heal two others still seriously injured, possibly forever. As a juvenile offender, he might get out on his 19th birthday, as the law allows; he might not.
But it would be something. A bit of comfort, perhaps, to loved ones still grieving. Some evidence that stealing, drinking and high-speed joy-riding not to mention killing and maiming are actions with consequences.
Except not in state District Judge Jean Boyds Tarrant County juvenile court. Here, the unspeakable carnage left by a spoiled, wealthy, drunken teen adds up to 10 years probation, not even a day in youth lockup.
Boyd apparently swallowed whole the defense argument that Couch was just a poor, little rich boy effectively abused by parents who set no boundaries and gave him everything except actual parenting. Affluenza, as a defense psychologist called it, or wealth assuming privilege.
The teen never learned to say that youre sorry, Gary Miller told the court. If you hurt someone, you sent him money.
The irony is obvious in Boyds sentence.
Couch managed to achieve his blissful wastedness by stealing beer from a Wal-Mart before driving a Ford F-350 registered to his dads company into two parked cars along Burleson-Retta Road in southern Tarrant County. Killed instantly were a stranded driver; a youth minister who had stopped to assist; and two other good Samaritans trying to help.
Of the seven other teens jammed into Couchs truck, two remain seriously injured. His blood alcohol tested at 0.24 percent. Thats three times the legal limit for an adult and infinity times what Texas law allows for a minor. He also had Valium in his system.
Sheriff Dee Anderson called it probably the most difficult accident scene weve ever had to work. Today, he wonders how to explain probation to his children and grandchildren. Apparently of little concern to Boyd was Couchs underage drinking arrest a few months earlier, this one involving beer, vodka and an even-younger teen.
Boyd, who is not running for re-election, sternly told Couch how responsible he was for so much pain and then treated him precisely as his parents always had. In effect, theyd never punished him before; how could she now?
Instead, she accepted the defense recommendation to send Couch back to what appears to be a very comfortable rehab center in Southern California. Couchs dad agreed to foot the annual $450,000 bill. Assume this is not an option available to the great majority of teen intoxication manslaughter defendants.
Despite all the death in his wake, Ethan Couch didnt learn a thing he didnt already know: That its far better to come from that wealthy place where actions seldom have mean, old consequences. Those are for the other guy.
