Teen gets probation because he's the victim of wealth

[socialstrat]

Teen Kills 4; Judge LITERALLY Lets Him Off Because He is Rich!

I wish this was a snark. But this is so shocking it makes me ill.

16-year old Ethan Couch was driving drunk at THREE times the legal limit and had Valium in his system. He plowed into four people going 70 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone, killing them. Other victims are severly injured; one has severe brain damage. Even after he killed those people, he was uncooperative and combative with the emergency services and walked away from the police saying "I'm outta here".

He pleaded guilty, of course. But Ethan's parents are very, very, very wealthy. (We are talking the 1%.) They hired an attorney that brought on a psychologist to say Couch was "a product of wealth" and was used to getting "whatever he wanted". Because he was so afluent and accustomed to never having consequences, the attorney argued that he should get therapy as opposed to jail.

This was the argument, mind you, used in the defense:

He said Couch got whatever he wanted. As an example, Miller said Couch's parents gave no punishment after police ticketed the then-15-year-old when he was found in a parked pickup with a passed out, undressed 14-year-old girl.Miller also pointed out that Couch was allowed to drive at 13. He said the teen was emotionally flat and needed years of therapy. At the time of the fatal wreck, Couch had a blood alcohol content of .24, said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson. It is illegal for a minor to drive with any amount of alcohol in his or her system.

​

Prosecutors tried to get 20 years. The Defense argued for therapy and probation.

Texas State District Judge Jean Boyd sided with the Defense and gave him probation:

(Video below. If embed no work--here is link to news report.)

The kid is not remorseful in the slightest. I'm sure he always expected to get off. The families are devastated.
Tell me again how there are not two Americas and two sets of rules. Does anyone for a second think if this kid was poor and black he would not be facing death row?
Disgraceful.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013...dge-LITERALLY-Lets-Him-Off-Because-He-is-Rich

More coverage: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/ethan-couch-sentenced_n_4426722.html

 

[Jackson]

What surely this tells me is that the Judge what bought out. Regardless the kid will OD before he is 20.

 

[HOF]

Strange being in TEXAS a no-nonsense state! I would bet this young man will feel the wrath of someone's revenge.

 

[Al Bumin]

What Jackson and Hof said.

 

[SillyGirl]

Strange being in TEXAS a no-nonsense state! I would bet this young man will feel the wrath of someone's revenge.

I hope so.

I don't know if judges in Texas are elected or appointed, but I'm sure somewhere down the line there was or will be a significant political donation.

The thing is, this kid's attitude is more about bad parenting than about $$. I know people with $$ who take pains to raise children who don't feel entitled to do and have whatever they want. I also know people with no $ at all whose children are complete spoiled brats, with no limits or boundaries or consequences.

Some so-called parents are too damn lazy to do the mundane, endless, inconvenient little things about parenting that help produce a decent human being.

Not being taught empathy and consideration for others puts a child at quite a disadvantage in the Decency department.

 

[Wanker]

Abuse of power, money and very unethical.

 

[God]

very unethical.

It's not if you have money.

 

[Maurice Boscorelli]

Well on another note the kid and his family are going to creamed in the pending civil suit.

And the filthy rich like his parents absolutely hate parting with their money.

The kid will someday have to come to grips with his actions and will probably sink even further into the depths of substance abuse.

 

[Cardinal Fang]

Bottom line is that the parents through their wealth managed to ensure he was never personally responsible for anything in his life. And they just proved it once again in court.

 

[HOF]

​

 

[HOF]

​

 

[HOF]

​

 

[HOF]

​

 

[DigglerII]

Teen Kills 4; Judge LITERALLY Lets Him Off Because He is Rich!



https://www.dailykos.com/story/2013...dge-LITERALLY-Lets-Him-Off-Because-He-is-Rich

More coverage: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/ethan-couch-sentenced_n_4426722.html

One of the worst the rich get what they want story I have ever heard.

 

[User-E]

One of the worst the rich get what they want story I have ever heard.

We can always hope for vigilante justice.

 

[Maurice Boscorelli]

We can always hope for vigilante justice.

Be careful what you wish for.