You may have heard it by now, if not these are the basics of
the story. A rich sixteen year old kid from Texas
Authorities said that Couch was driving with a
blood-alcohol content of 0.24 —three times the legal limit for
an adult — and was going 70 mph in a 40 mph zone.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said in July that the June 15, 2013 crash
was “probably the most difficult accident scene we’ve ever had to work.”
Sources say that despite the mass deaths and carnage that he
caused, he was belligerent at the scene and reportedly told shocked onlookers:
“I’m outta here,” before callously walking away from the crash.
Reportedly, Couch is so spoiled that his family actually
bought him his own party pad (a sprawling ranch house), where he regularly
spends days playing video games and having booze fueled parties. Mind you, he
was sixteen years old at the time of the horrific crash. His father, Fred
Couch, is an extremely wealthy business owner who, according to sources, owns a
multimillion-dollar sheet metal company.
Hollie Boyles, 52, and her daughter Shelby, 21, were killed
in the crash. As well, Breanna Mitchell, 24, and youth minister, Brian
Jennings, were killed as a result of the decision that Couch made to get drunk
and climb behind the wheels of a huge, deadly, vehicle. Nine others were
injured in the accident, barely escaping with their lives. Two of Couch’s friends riding in the bed of his pickup were tossed in
the crash and severely injured. One is no longer able to move or talk because
of a brain injury, while the other suffered internal injuries and broken bones.
Tragic as this is, the story gets even more bizarre. The judge, upon hearing testimony that Couch
is suffering from the awful condition known as “Affluenza,” makes the fair and
impartial determination that he should not spend a day in jail after killing
four people and injuring nine, but rather he should be made to learn his lesson
by attending counseling at a rehabilitation facility, located in the upscale
city of Newport Beach, California, so that he may learn his lesson. And for
good measure, the judge sentenced Couch to ten years of the severe penalty of
probation.
While attending the facility, Couch will be subjected to such
cruel and unusual punishments as the ability to eat gourmet meals, take yoga
and mixed martial arts, as well as ride horses to assist with his “therapy.”
The cost of this facility is reportedly $450,000 a year, which is no problem
for Couch’s rich family to pay.
According to the defense of “Affluenza,” eagerly embraced by
Judge Jean Boyd, Couch has a psychological condition that was caused by his
wealthy parents. It has nothing to do with him choosing to drive drunk and kill
people. No, instead of him being a fault, the whole problem resulted because he
was allowed to do whatever he wanted and his every wish was catered to. Thus, the theory goes, he never learned that
there are consequences for bad behavior, such as getting drunk and killing
people.
Are you kidding me?
So the logic behind the judge’s thinking is that Couch is so
rich and spoiled that he has lost the ability to understand the consequences of
his actions. This has got to be one of
the dumbest, nonsensical defenses that ever worked in the history of crime and
punishment---and if you ever watch the trials of sports stars, movie stars, and
other various wealthy people---there have been a lot of crazy “defenses” out there.
The term,
“Affluenza,” highlights the issue of parents, particularly upper-middle-class
ones, who not only refuse to discipline their children but may protest the
efforts of others -- school officials, law enforcement and the courts -- who
attempt to do so, said Suniya Luthar, a professor of psychology at Arizona
State University.
"There
are families where very, very few limits are set at a time when they should
be," she said. By age 16, she noted, it's too late: "The horse is out
of the barn."
Let’s analyze this using the illogical ultimate conclusion of
the “Affluenza” defense. So, if a kid is born poor, is from the ghetto, has a
broken family, is abused, is surrounded by gangs, drug users and thugs, his
ability to make decisions is much better than Couch’s because he has been
forced to deal with the ugly reality of life at a young age and that bad
decisions can have bad consequences?
You simply cannot make this stuff up.
According to Dana Ford of CNN:
“The judge's decision stunned victims' family members, who say
they feel Couch basically got away with murder.”
"Let's face it. ... There needs to be some justice
here," Eric Boyles, who lost his wife and daughter, told "Anderson
Cooper 360."
“On the night of June 15, his wife, Hollie Boyles, and daughter,
Shelby, left their home to help Breanna Mitchell, whose SUV had broken down.
Brian Jennings, a youth pastor, was driving past and also stopped to help.”
“All four were killed when the teen's pickup plowed into the
pedestrians on a road in Burleson, south of Fort Worth
“Two people riding in the bed of the teen's pickup were tossed in
the crash and severely injured. One is no longer able to move or talk because
of a brain injury, while the other suffered internal injuries and broken bones.”
“According to prosecutors, three hours after the crash, tests
showed Couch had a blood alcohol content of 0.24, three times the legal limit.”
At least the families of the victims may be able to get some
measure of justice via the civil court system.
As of January of this year “Five of the six civil lawsuits filed against
Ethan Couch, his parents and his father’s company in connection with the
accident have been consolidated and transferred to the 96th State
District Court in Tarrant County ,
Texas
According
to the Cleburne Times-Review, Fred and Tonya Couch have been included as
defendants in the lawsuits because of allegations they did not properly
supervise their son. Cleburne Metal Works is included as a defendant because
the truck Couch was driving at the time of the accident was registered to
the company.
Regarding
the “Honorable” Judge Jean Boyd, a petition has been filed asking that Texas
Governor, Rick Perry, remove her from the bench for such a bad decision. The site
for the petition is located at Change.org. Maybe take a look at it when you get
a chance. There are very interesting and insightful comments by thousands of outraged and concerned citizens.
Remember,
judge’s can make questionable calls when faced with conflicting evidence, but
there are certain situations (like this one), where it is essentially a spit in
the face at all of the families who had their loved ones violently killed by an
uncaring and unrepentant person such as Couch. These types of absurdities
simply should not be tolerated or condoned by citizens because judges and other
public officials, work on behalf of, and because of, we the people.
Interestingly, in March 2012, Judge Jean Boyd sentenced a
14-year-old black teen to 10-years in prison for punching Mark Gregory who died
after hitting his head on the pavement, according to a report from WFAA-TV News
8.
Though the judge tried to send the black teen to a
rehabilitation facility like Couch will attend, “no one would take him,”
Gregory’s mother Anita Lauterbach told the news station.
“We were horrified. We just couldn’t believe it. The district
attorney and I were just sitting on pins and needles. But, when nobody would
take him, [it was] a sigh of relief,” Lauterbach said.
According to a report from WFAA-TV News 8, “Lauterbach said she’s
still disgusted at her experience with the judge.”
This Judge has such a bad reputation with those seeking justice on
behalf of victims that they are willing to accept the sure deal of a plea
bargain by a murderer, rather than risk that the Judge ever so gently slap the
criminal on the wrist.
Case in
point:
A teen who
beat an acquaintance to death with a hammer and enlisted a friend’s help to
hide the body was sentenced to 26 years behind bars in a plea deal reached with
Tarrant County
Relatives
of the victim, 17-year-old Nicholas Anderson, said they supported the plea
agreement in the capital murder case because of concerns that state District
Judge Jean Boyd might have given the teen a lighter sentence, based on her
history.
They
referred to a recent case in which Boyd made national news for sentencing Ethan
Couch, 16, to 10 years’ probation and therapy for driving drunk and causing a
crash that left four people dead.
“Based
upon her history with the Couch situation, we didn’t trust that she would make
the right decision as far as the amount of sentencing,” said Sonya Burns, Anderson
The teen,
who is now 17 but is not being identified because he was a juvenile at the time
of the crime, pleaded guilty to capital murder in the killing of Anderson, a
former middle school classmate. (Deanna
Boyd, Star Telegram).
For those
who still have doubts about this case, this was not Couch’s first encounter
with the law. He is not a completely naive kid, who just happened to make a
terrible mistake based on youth and immaturity. In February 2013, Ethan was
cited for "minor in consumption of alcohol" and "minor in
possession of alcohol". He pled no contest and was sentenced to probation, a
compulsory alcohol awareness class, and 12 hours of community
service, none of which obviously did him any good when he slammed
his truck into innocent victims. So it
remains extremely doubtful that Judge Jean Boyd’s sentence of probation, yet
again, will have any impact on Couch—who is probably smiling and enjoying the
sun right now at his therapeutic resort in Newport Beach , California
Also, the
apple does not fall far from the tree. Ethan's
parents both have had incidents with the law, publicized in the media following
their son's conviction, but have also never served any time in prison. Ethan's
father has been charged with criminal mischief, theft by check and assault, but
these charges were dismissed. Ethan's mother was sentenced to a $500 fine and a
six month community supervision order for (I wish I could say I am
surprised) reckless driving.
To further
add to the carnival that is this entire episode, even the psychologist who
testified on behalf of Couch, appears to have at least some, implied, regret
concerning the turn of events he caused.
“Affluenza.”
“The word touched a national nerve. But G. Dick
Miller, the psychologist who said it, wishes he could take it back. "I
wish I hadn't used that term. Everyone seems to have hooked onto it," he
told CNN's "Anderson Copper 360" on Thursday night.
"We
used to call these people spoiled brats." (Dana Ford, CNN)
Now, that is
an expert opinion that I can agree with.
-Leonardo
G. Renaud
No comments:
Post a Comment