"Affluenza" Defense for Vehicular Manslaughter - Teen Gets Probation for 4 Deaths

[Peikko 1,575]

Granted she has a long criminal record, but I find it odd that she stole some lawn eqpt. out of a garage and gets 70 years in prison, yet this kid killed 4 people and gets probation.

Sorry I had to spell it out for you. I thought you'd get that on your own. I'll try to be more precise next time.

Again, without knowing the specifics of the case the only thing that's left is guesswork. Assuming that US law isn't as asinine as to send someone to jail for 70 years stealing knickknacks (although in the US it can be because of the 'three strikes' initiative which in my opinion may well do more harm than good but that's another issue again) there's more to it than that. It may be a case that they had to get her on the case they could prove rather than the issue that they wanted to get her off the streets for but didn't have enough evidence to present. Her criminal history seems on the surface to be more serious than simple burglary even from the story but without lots of research there's nothing really more to be said. Which rather reinforces my opinion that the presentation of short articles as evidence for judicial impropriety is pointless and stupid.

[Darnell 8,479]

ya, this woman pegged the 3 strikes rule. I think it's great she's being put away.

[Peikko 1,575]

ya, this woman pegged the 3 strikes rule. I think it's great she's being put away.

I don't have an opinion on whether it's good or not. I can't be bothered to research her criminal history to find out whether it's merited or otherwise. I have other things to do with this glorious sunny Saturday, like watch the King's play a great game of hockey!

[Karee 4,191]

Judge who gave Ethan Couch his ‘affluenza’ punishment should have studied Chris Clary’s case

Judge Jean Boyd, who sentenced 16-year-old Ethan Couch to probation after he killed four people while driving drunk might have done us all a favor by researching a similar history that I’ve written about previously on this blog. It’s the case of Chris Clary, another son of a well-to-do, influential North Texas father who got him off with probation after he killed a teenage girl riding in his car. Clary also was a drunk teenage driver.

In December 1998, Clary killed Stefani Robertson, a 15-year-old DeSoto High School student. Clary was drunk at the time, and Robertson was his passenger. As is often the case with rich kids, dad got a good lawyer. Clary, just like Couch, received 10 years of probation.

Amazingly, just like Couch, this wasn’t Clary’s first offense. About a year earlier, he had been cited for drunk driving but clearly hadn’t learned his lesson. Affluenza apparently has been sweeping the area for decades.

Did probation allow Clary to rehabilitate himself in the way that the judge envisions in Couch’s case? Hardly.

In 2009, he was ticketed for driving 90 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Zip ahead to 2011. The “rehabilitated” Clary, driving a Porsche, was driving down the on-ramp of Central Expressway at Yale. I don’t know where he was looking at the time, but it wasn’t at the road ahead. I don’t know the state of his sobriety, nor did police. But he clearly hadn’t been paying attention. Had he been, he might have noticed Latonya Lyons, a single mother of three, whose car had broken down beside the on-ramp. She was in her Ford Taurus, emergency lights flashing. Clary’s Porsche plowed into her car, hitting it so much force, the Taurus flipped on its top and landed 60 feet away. Lyons was killed.

I don’t know if Dad intervened again, but amazingly, police let Clary leave without even writing him a ticket. Perhaps they were feeling the fever and chills and achiness of affluenza. They did not conduct a sobriety test on a two-time killer with an established history of drunk driving.

Zip ahead to 2013. August 10, to be exact. That’s the day Chris Clary was arrested for possession of heroin and cocaine. Police found a shotgun in the trunk. Stories have circulated for years about Clary and drugs. They continue to circulate.

Wow, that 10 years of probation certainly turned Clary’s life around. I don’t doubt Ethan Couch will grow up with an equal level of utter disregard for the sanctity of human life.

Source:

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/12/judge-who-gave-ethan-couch-his-affluenza-punishment-should-have-studied-chris-clarys-case.html/

I actually know this POS. He's owed me money for years.

Edited December 14, 2013 by Karee

[Dakine10 5,452]

I'll be happy when the parents are living on welfare, after having to liquidate all to pay the damages awarded in the case.

That's one way to cure affluenza.

[Darnell 8,479]

whew -

report on TV last night, another 'kid' sentenced by same judge, about 7 years ago, different result altogether.

sheesh !

[Karee 4,191]

whew -

report on TV last night, another 'kid' sentenced by same judge, about 7 years ago, different result altogether.

sheesh !

? Care to share with everyone else?

[Karee 4,191]

Fred Couch, father of ‘affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch, arrested in North Richland Hills for impersonating police officer

The North Richland Hills Police Department says Fred Couch has been arrested for impersonating a police officer.

Fred Couch is the father of Ethan Couch, the teenager who pleaded guilty to killing four and seriously injuring two others while driving drunk in Burleson. The Couches became synonymous with the phrase “affluenza” after State District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Ethan to 10 years probation on the intoxication manslaughter charges.

Now Fred Couch will face criminal charges following his arrest this morning on a warrant for falsely identifying himself as a police officer.

According to police, the incident that landed Fred Couch in the North Richland Hills Detention Facility just before 11 this morning occurred at 1:17 a.m. July 28. In a media release, police say that officers responded to a disturbance call at a house on the 4400 block of Mackey Drive. Fred Couch, police say, was already on the scene and identifying himself as a reserve officer in Lakeside, a small Tarrant County town on Lake Worth.

After officers wrapped up their disturbance investigation, says the release, they turned their attention back to Couch, who once again insisted he was a Lakeside Police Department reserve officer. He told officers he could prove it, that he had his “police stuff” in his car. And, sure enough, he reached into the car, took out his wallet and showed the North Richland Hills officers “what appeared to be a police badge and identification card, suggesting he was a police officer,” says the release. At that point, he was allowed to go.

But the North Richland Hills officer kept looking into Couch’s claim, and after doing some digging, the release says, he determined that Fred Couch — who actually owned Cleburne Sheet Metal — wasn’t who he claimed to be, and he’s never been licensed as a Texas peace officer. At that point a warrant was issued for his arrest, the formal charge False Identification as a Police Officer: Misrepresentation of Property.

He was just released from the detention center after posting bond set at $2,500.00.

As the U.K. Daily Mail reported last December, Fred has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests for, among other things, theft and evading arrest.

Source: http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/fred-couch-father-of-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-arrested-for-impersonating-north-richland-hills-police-officer.html/

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

You can bet money this kid will be violating his probation. This is a clear message to him that there are no real consequences for his actions. The kid should've at least got 6 months to a year in the can.

I wonder if the light sentence was because he was a juvenile ?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

If drinking and driving were illegal, this never would have happened.

If you had to take a test to get a license, this never would have happened.

If cars were banned, this never would have happened.

If alcohol was banned this never would have happened.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

If drinking and driving were illegal, this never would have happened.

If you had to take a test to get a license, this never would have happened.

If cars were banned, this never would have happened.

If alcohol was banned this never would have happened.

Remember the old days when I called you a liburul LOL

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Remember the old days when I called you a liburul LOL

I'm a liberal conservative. Or a conservative liberal. Or a pro gun liberal. Or an anti Republican conservative. Or an anti Democrat liberal. I see things both ways, so does that make me a bisexual? Damn, I'm having an identity crisis.

[Jacque67 7,328]

I'm a liberal conservative. Or a conservative liberal. Or a pro gun liberal. Or an anti Republican conservative. Or an anti Democrat liberal. I see things both ways, so does that make me a bisexual? Damn, I'm having an identity crisis.

Hmmm... Confused guys are hot

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I'm a liberal conservative. Or a conservative liberal. Or a pro gun liberal. Or an anti Republican conservative. Or an anti Democrat liberal. I see things both ways, so does that make me a bisexual? Damn, I'm having an identity crisis.

Yes Bisexual that is it