Killed people in a DUI? Just claim "affluenza"

[gyeonghwa]

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/12/12/ethan-couch-affluenza/

Couch admitted that he was the driver in an accident that Dallas CBS affiliate KTVT called “gruesome.” The accident occurred after Breanna Mitchell lost control of her SUV and wound up in a ditch. Brian Jennings, a youth pastor at a local church, stopped to help Mitchell. So did Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby Boyles. All four were struck and killed by a pickup truck driven by Ethan Couch.

Couch and his seven passengers had stolen beer from a Walmart earlier in the day. They drank the beer, then got back into Couch’s truck to go in search of more alcohol. That is when the accident occurred. Court records show his blood alcohol at the time of the crash was .24,which is three times the legal limit for adults in Texas.

In what Madison Grey, writing at Time.com, calls the “affluenza defense,” Ethan Couch’s attorneys argued that his parents ”pretty much let him get away with everything.” Psychologist Gary Miller told the court, “He never learned that sometimes you don’t get your way. He had the cars and he had the money. He had freedoms that no young man would be able to handle.” Miller said that thanks to “affluenza,” Couch and his family believe wealth buys privilege, and there is no link between behavior and consequences.

Texas law for an offense such as this calls for between two and 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $10,000. Couch received 10 years’ probation. It appears that Dr. Miller’s assessment about wealth may be right.

Eric Boyles, whose wife and daughter were killed in the crash, said the decision was all about money. “Ultimately today, I felt that money did prevail,” Boyles said. “If [he] had been any other youth, I feel like the circumstances would have been different.”

So the kid kills 4 and gets no jail time. And no other people studying psychology has ever heard of "affluenza" before. Remember, a black woman in Florida got prison for shooting a gun at an abusive man and killed no one. From what I understand from other sources is that his punishment will be served at a posh rehabilitation area in SoCal. As one of the comment said:

SO let me get this straight? His defense says his wealth allowed him to get away without any consequences so he gets off with no consequences?

[ironbite]

Even though criminally he has nothing to fear, civily his family will be paying out the nose.

Ironbite-sometimes the best justice in the world comes out of the pocketbook.

[Osama bin Bambi]

I can't find the links now but I do remember reading that not only has this kid been involved in DUIs before, but he also displayed no remorse or emotions regarding the crash. I wouldn't be surprised if he was a psychopath, due to his obvious lack of conscience and repeated reckless behavior.

[kefkaownsall]

For perspective a man didn't get house arrest and got 2 years prision for downloading child porn EVEN THOUGH the part of the brain that tells him stop dont do this was gone forever (removed as part of epiliepsy surgery

[Ironchew]

For perspective a man didn't get house arrest and got 2 years prision for downloading child porn EVEN THOUGH the part of the brain that tells him stop dont do this was gone forever (removed as part of epiliepsy surgery

We sure have screwed up priorities as a nation.

Kid murders four people? Let him off easy (I imagine this is just a formalization of what has already been going on for a long time). Someone downloads the wrong thing off the internet, and they get locked up.

[kefkaownsall]

Uh child porn is more then "the wrong thing"  no one was disputing that the question was his mental damage

[Ironchew]

Uh child porn is more then "the wrong thing"  no one was disputing that the question was his mental damage

Regardless of how obscene you consider it to be, it's still a crime of possession. We're supposed to have constitutional protections in place to prevent locking people up for things like that, but again, we have screwed up priorities as a nation.

[kefkaownsall]

You know you are new here but we had this exact debate before....

[Ironchew]

You know you are new here but we had this exact debate before....

Well, if you didn't want to have this debate again, you shouldn't have brought it up.

[mellenORL]

Reverse adage; "Money Walks - Bullshit Talks"

[ironbite]

For perspective a man didn't get house arrest and got 2 years prision for downloading child porn EVEN THOUGH the part of the brain that tells him stop dont do this was gone forever (removed as part of epiliepsy surgery

We sure have screwed up priorities as a nation.

Kid murders four people? Let him off easy (I imagine this is just a formalization of what has already been going on for a long time). Someone downloads the wrong thing off the internet, and they get locked up.

Child porn is not the just the wrong thing off the internet.  It is the WORST THING you can ever download off the internet.

Ironbite-now if you said music that'd be a whole different story.

[kefkaownsall]

See Ironchew often child porographers don't want money they just to exploit kids

[Ironchew]

For perspective a man didn't get house arrest and got 2 years prision for downloading child porn EVEN THOUGH the part of the brain that tells him stop dont do this was gone forever (removed as part of epiliepsy surgery

We sure have screwed up priorities as a nation.

Kid murders four people? Let him off easy (I imagine this is just a formalization of what has already been going on for a long time). Someone downloads the wrong thing off the internet, and they get locked up.

Child porn is not the just the wrong thing off the internet.  It is the WORST THING you can ever download off the internet.

Ironbite-now if you said music that'd be a whole different story.

See Ironchew often child porographers don't want money they just to exploit kids

Almost everyone has a camera nowadays and most CP is just kids taking pictures of themselves. In the event that the kids are being exploited, law enforcement should go after the people doing the exploiting. Sorry, but I don't buy the whole "possession equals exploitation" argument.

[kefkaownsall]

no most child porn are adults taking pics and uploading them

[Ironchew]

no most child porn are adults taking pics and uploading them

[citation needed]