Tag Archives: affluenza defense

legal news, State news

Ethan Couch is back in the news … oh, joy!

For as long as he lives — more than likely — Ethan Couch is going to be remembered for one infamous occurrence.

How he received a probated sentence after he killed four pedestrians in Tarrant County, Texas — while driving drunk.

Couch was 16 years of age at the time. His lawyer defended him by saying that because he comes from a wealthy family, he didn’t know that what he did was wrong. It became known as the “affluenza defense.”

Funny, huh? Not really. Then the boy violated the terms of his probation when he fled with his mother to Mexico. He was returned to Texas and spent two years in the slammer.

The young man is now 20. He’s out of jail. He’ll try — I presume — to restart his life.

Do I feel sorry for him? Hah! Not in the least. I feel even less sorry for Mom, who truly knew better when she spirited her kid to Mexico. She’s awaiting trial on a charge of hindering the apprehension of a felon and money laundering.

Good grief!

If she’s convicted, this person needs to spend the maximum sentence available.

Welcome back to the spotlight, Ethan. Mind your Ps and Qs.

legal news, State news

‘Affluenza teen’ gets jail time … finally!

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Ethan Couch is headed to jail.

He should have been there all along. He got a light sentence: probation. For what? Oh, for killing four people in a motor vehicle accident in Fort Worth while driving a pickup truck. He was roaring drunk, at least three times over the minimum legal limit.

But then came the astonishing defense that the judge apparently swallowed. Couch’s lawyer said the young man suffered from “affluenza,” having been raised in a wealthy family, by parents who failed to teach him right from wrong.

Then the kid went on probation, only to violate the terms of his sentence. He was caught drinking. He fled the country, ending up in Mexico — with the assistance of his mother.

It’s good that he was caught. Couch, who was 16 at the time of his crime, has just turned 19. Texas law doesn’t allow much of a jail sentence because the young man was a juvenile when he committed the original crime.

But at least he’s going to serve nearly two years in the slammer.

I’m glad to see that the young man will get what was due at the beginning.

Now, how about throwing the book at his mother — Tonya Couch — for aiding and abetting his escape from justice?

legal news, State news

Ethan Couch back home . . . but what about his mother?

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Ethan Couch has returned from Mexico, having decided to forgo a fight against extradition back to the United States.

The 18-year-old Fort Worth resident whose trial for drunken driving brought us the term “affluenza” is likely to face a few more months in jail. He really ought to spend some years behind bars, but Texas law won’t allow it.

Couch killed four people two years ago — when he was still a juvenile — after getting roaring drunk and then driving his pickup. He got off with a probated sentence after his defense team brought in a shrink who said Couch’s upbringing by wealthy parents failed to teach him right from wrong.

Hence, came the term “affluenza defense.”

Couch then bolted to Mexico after violating the terms of his probation.

Who helped the kid? His mother. Tonya Couch already is back in Texas. She’s posted bail and awaits her fate.

No matter what happens to Ethan Couch, his mother deserves — and well might get — some serious prison time.

Given that state law won’t allow the court to throw Ethan Couch into the slammer for more than three or four months, it ought to look carefully at how complicit his mother was in enabling her bundle of joy to violate the terms of his probation and then flee to Mexico.

In a curiously ironic twist, Mommy Couch’s alleged complicity in this caper lends ghastly credence to what the shrink said at her son’s trial about how she and Daddy Couch didn’t teach their son about proper behavior.

It didn’t justify that ridiculously light sentence in the first place.

However, it does suggest that Tonya Couch needs to pay a stiff price if she’s convicted of aiding in her son’s flight from justice.

 

national news, State news

Tanya Couch becomes face of parental dysfunction

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Ethan Couch needs to be punished the fullest extent of Texas law.

The problem, though, lies with the law itself. The so-called “affluenza” teen likely won’t spend much time behind bars for violating the conditions of his parole when he fled to Mexico after taking part in a drinking game.

Couch, you’ll recall, is the teenager convicted of killing four people in that hideous drunken-driving wreck in Tarrant County. HIs defense team threw out a defense that his ritzy lifestyle — and his wealthy parents — were responsible for his failing to understand right from wrong.

He should have spent time in juvenile detention, as he was 16 when he committed the crime.

Two years later he’s an adult.

But . . . what about Mommy Couch, Tanya?

She’s more of a villain than that goofball son of hers. She enabled his escape to Mexico and, in fact, fled with him.

Is there a better example than this of parental dysfunction that what Tanya Couch has provided? I’m hard-pressed to find one.

She’s out of jail now, but is confined to her residence; she’s wearing an ankle monitor to track her whereabouts.

Mommy Couch needs to do some serious jail time, although I don’t really know what the maximum sentence is for the crime for which she is likely to be charged with committing.

Whatever it is, she deserves it.

While we’re at it, let’s take a look at the role Daddy Couch might have played in this ridiculous drama.

 

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Boy’s probation still hard to swallow

Ethan Couch’s probationary sentence has been lined out.

It still stinks.

Couch is the 16-year-old Tarrant County boy whose drunken recklessness killed four people in June 2013. He lost control of his big Ford pickup while driving at three times the legal limit for blood-alcohol content. Several of the victims who were injured may never recover fully from their wounds. One of them suffered brain damage. Couch had been drinking at his parents’ house and stole some beer from a retailer.

Four people are dead because this youngster was too drunk to drive. A Tarrant County trial judge, Jean Boyd, decided Couch didn’t need to serve any time behind bars. She sentenced him to 10 years probation. How did the boy manage to skate past any jail or prison time? His parents were able to hire top-notch lawyers to defend him.

The case has coined a new term: the “Affluenza” defense.

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/02/no-time-for-ethan-couch-no-justice-for-his-many-victims.html/

On Wednesday, Boyd formalized the terms of Couch’s probation. He’ll have to serve some time in a rehab center. It’s supposed to be a highly regulated environment. Couch will complete his rehab, will finish his probation and will be able to go about his life.

Many of his victims won’t be so fortunate.

Even from my vantage point a good distance from where this tragedy occurred, it’s apparent that justice wasn’t done.

Prosecutors sought a 20-year prison sentence to teach this youngster a lesson for the carnage he created and the misery he brought to victims and their families. Dallas Morning News blogger Mike Hashimoto said the sentence sought “didn’t seem unreasonable as accountability for the trail of death and destruction Couch left behind.”

Eric Couch needed to be taught a tough lesson.