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  Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
   
Location: Displaced Iowegian | This young man gets "probation" for killing FOUR people and injuring several others in a drunk driving wreck because he was "too rich" to know right from wrong?????? He was 3 times over the limit of an ADULT. WOW ! ! !
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/us/texas-affluenza-teen/ |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
 
Location: Kansas | No effing way. |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | This story is from February 2014... are there any updates? |
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Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
Location: Displaced Iowegian | barrelracr131 - 2015-10-16 8:35 AM This story is from February 2014... are there any updates? It was just on the national news (ABC) again this morning........I was too p*ffed to listen to it.....lol
It will be on 20/20 tonight......
http://abcnews.go.com/US/affluenza-dui-case-happened-night-accident-left-people/story?id=34481444
Edited by NJJ 2015-10-16 8:51 AM
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | I remember this story when it happened. The biggest criminal in the whole scenario is the judge... |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| The last story I read about it was last year, his parents had agreed to pay for an expensive treatment facility in Cali, judge agreed- no jail time. Parents then went back to court to get out of paying for the treatment, that burden is now on the tax payers. It just makes your head spin. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Shows that money talks to certain people, sad  |
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Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
Location: Displaced Iowegian | rachellyn80 - 2015-10-16 8:48 AM I remember this story when it happened. The biggest criminal in the whole scenario is the judge...
Exactly.......I see that she has "retired" effective December 2014...... |
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 Hugs to You
Posts: 7551
Location: In The Land of Cotton | rachellyn80 - 2015-10-16 9:48 AM I remember this story when it happened. The biggest criminal in the whole scenario is the judge...
So true. Goes to show money talks. Just like DC - only on the local level. |
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Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | NJJ - 2015-10-16 9:17 AM rachellyn80 - 2015-10-16 8:48 AM I remember this story when it happened. The biggest criminal in the whole scenario is the judge... Exactly.......I see that she has "retired" effective December 2014......
I know a cold front just blew through here....but, did hell just freeze over??  |
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 Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | Just a little background that 20/20 probably won't provide:
Richard Alpert -- the DA who prosecuted the case -- is the leading guru/expert for DWI's in the State of Texas. I first met him at a DWI conference when I was a baby prosecutor and he was training us newbies (and the older ones wanting a refresher) on all things DWI. He wrote the training manual and basic operating manual that many prosecutors and law enforcement officials use here in Texas on DWI's. He was a leading contributor to Texas having blood search warrants become law and he pretty much has a hand in influncing any DWI legislation that is up for consideration -- including that calling for stricter penalities and punishment on DWIs. He's the last prosecutor you want to be up against on a DWI case as a defense attorney.
As the prosecutor, Richard elected to try Ethan Couch (who was 16) as a juvenile and not an adult in this matter. Knowing Richard as I do, he had good reasons for making this election and probably thought it was the best way to handle this case. Some of the benefits of trying Ethan as a juvenile would include the ability to keep him in a detention facility (after adequate hearings on the issue) during the whole time before he went to his final hearing on the matter as opposed to his parents being able to bond him out as an adult. Also, juvenile proceedings are held privately and the only people allowed in the court room are attorneys, parents, witnesses, and court officials. It's a good way to avoid a media circus. Additionally, the parents of the child are actively encouraged -- and more easily ordered to participate -- in the rehabilitation of the child than any criminal adult court could do.
The downside of charging Ethan as a juvenile would be that the focus automatically becomes one of how are we going to rehabilitate him versus punishing him for the crime. The juvenile system in Texas is geared towards what is in the best interest of the child, getting them rehabilitated and not focusing so much on the offense as much as the offender. By electing to charge him as a juvenile, Richard made it where the Judge had to focus on these issues when it came to deciding punishment:
1. Do you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the juvenile, is in
need of rehabilitation or that the protection of the public or the juvenile requires
that a disposition be made in this case?
2. If you have sentenced the juvenile to a commitment in the TYC for a term of not
more than 10 years, do you place the juvenile on probation as an alternative to
committing the juvenile to the TYC? If yes,
3. Do you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the juvenile, in the
juvenile’s home, can be provided the level of care and level of support and
supervision that the juvenile needs to meet the conditions of probation? WE DO
or WE DO NOT
The last question determines whether or not placement for the juvenile
will be made outside the juvenile’s home.
This is exact wording from a determinate sentence punishment guidelines here in Texas. Please note how it forces the Judge (or jury if so chosen) to focus on rehabilitation. The whole concept of the juvenile system is that parents and society have failed to raise this child properly and it's now up to the system to make those corrections because no one else will. This is the built in focus and what the prosecution chose to go up against and to put in front of the judge.
In this exact scenerio, Ethan Couch could have been placed in TYC (kiddie prison) for up to 20 years (if so held in the facility, he would have been transferred at 19 or 21 to adult prison) for the manslaughter charges. At minimum, he would have had to serve 2 years in TYC. He could be placed on probation for up to 10 years (same as adults).
While TYC has it's advantages, it's not really known for having a great alcohol/drug rehab program and probably something that would actually get to a child like Ethan Couch. In TYC, he would have been surrounded by other juveniles who have committed similar crimes, have a really lax attitude about living right and changing their life philosophy/attitude towards the law and society and probably would not have been a good influence on Ethan. I think he would have found more "running buddies" to back up his beliefs and attitudes more than anything and rehab in that environment was never going to work.
Given that ^^^ reality, I can see why the Judge in this matter chose to go the route that she did versus putting him in TYC right off the bat. Remember, the prosecution made her focus go towards rehabilitation and not the horrific aspect so much of the crime itself. By law, she is required to place the best interest of Ethan Couch ahead of other concerns -- including that of the wishes of the victims and their families. The focus is not on them but on Ethan when he is tried as a juvenile.
In order to send him to this facility out in California, the Judge had to place him on probation because she could not sentence him to go to TYC and be transferrred there. He had to be on probation and "out" for that to happen. Did that mean that Ethan was allowed to return home after the sentence? No -- he was held in a detention facility until he went and was probably subsequently held in a similar detention facility when he got out of rehab. At that time, another hearing would take place to see if he needed to be held longer in detention versus being allowed to go back home to his parents.
In addition to being able to have that flexibility to send him to a better rehab facility, the Judge in this case still has the option of throwing Ethan in jail if he refuses to cooperate with the rehab process and she can also use that against his parents if they fail to cooperate with the court in what rehab they are required to participate in. If she had sentenced him to TYC (kiddie prison), that "hammer" so-to-speak would not have been available because she would have already done the worst to him that could happen. He could sit in there and blow off all his rehab, all his requirements regarding schooling, and any other mandates and there is really no major consequence to him not complying. Most adults on DWI manslaughters serve out their full prison sentence and it would probably run true for Ethan in this matter so complying would only be to his benefit and have no consequence if he decided not to. By placing him on probation and giving him a chance of possibly entering society before that 10 year period, it gives him the incentive to do everything asked of him and to make his parents comply also. You can hate the Judge for doing what she did, but I think in the end once you understand everything, she had good reason to do it.
With all that being said, I do feel for the families involved and the victims. It's a hard thing that they have been asked to do and basically accept (i.e., focus on the offender and not punishment or even the crime) because of how the State chose to handle this case. That being said, I also trust Richard Alpert's decision to charge Ethan as a juvenile -- it was probably for the best and really the only decision he could make given the circumstances and punishment consequences. This is just one of those cases where nothing was going to come easy and people were forced to make some tough decisions. I do think the media has done a **** poor job in better explaining the differences between juvenile and criminal courts (because there's a huge difference) and their ignorance has lead to a villification of the judge in this matter when she was doing what her job -- and oath of office as a juvenile judge -- required.
Edited by Red Raider 2015-10-16 11:40 AM
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Hugs to You
Posts: 7551
Location: In The Land of Cotton | You explanation makes a world of difference - thank you for trying to help us understand Red Raider. |
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Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | I do appreciate the explanation, but it offers no comfort.
Looking at this as a parent of four children makes me sick to my stomach. There are too many children raised with no morals or concern for other people. It would be nice if you could charge the parents too. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12841
| Texas justice is the best. Yesterday, the newscaster told about a man that had been convicted of multiple aggravated rapes had his conviction over turned and had been released to live in the Texarkana area. They said that they were not trying to instill fear but just to let everyone know that he was living in the area. WHAT THE HECK???? Are they trying to increase handgun sales or what? I don't know about you, but that would make me a little edgy. |
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Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
Location: Displaced Iowegian | I think that you missed this statement in the report....it doesn't seem like the prosecution was "for" rehabilitation......
But while the prosecution advocated for 20 years behind bars, the judge sentenced Ethan Couch to 10 years of probation and time in a rehab facility.
It falls to the JUDGE'S ignorant decision! |
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 I Prefer to Live in Fantasy Land
Posts: 64864
Location: In the Hills of Texas | So now that the judge stepped down last Dec., who now takes over that case?
When the trial was going on, my head was spinning and thought I had been transferred to another state where no one is held responsible for their own actions and it's always someone else's fault. |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Don't label this Texas justice, it happens all over this country and in Canada, too. It just happened that even Texas has left wing nut job judges, too.
Edited by GLP 2015-10-16 2:11 PM
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Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | NJJ - 2015-10-16 1:21 PM I think that you missed this statement in the report....it doesn't seem like the prosecution was "for" rehabilitation......
But while the prosecution advocated for 20 years behind bars, the judge sentenced Ethan Couch to 10 years of probation and time in a rehab facility.
It falls to the JUDGE'S ignorant decision!
I didn't miss anything.
Richard Alpert elected to charge him as a juvenile which automatically puts the emphasis on rehabilitation -- in whatever form -- over punishment. I don't care what he is quoted as saying; the end result is that he changed the whole dynamic of how this case was going to be heard, decided and the ultimate outcome by that one decision alone. Sure, he was hoping that the judge would lock Ethan away for 20 years but that's not what juvenile courts are geared to do. If you want the ability to have a jury trial as the State, the ability to stack sentences (so you serve one after the other) and the ability to inflict the most punishment, you try things in the adult criminal courts and not juvenile court. He chose not to do that and put the Judge in the position of determining what was best to rehab Ethan Couch and not punish him.
You may not like it but that's the law and that's the choice that Richard Alpert made as the prosecutor.
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Toastest with the Mostest
Posts: 5712
Location: That part of Texas | Nevertooold - 2015-10-16 2:01 PM So now that the judge stepped down last Dec., who now takes over that case?
When the trial was going on, my head was spinning and thought I had been transferred to another state where no one is held responsible for their own actions and it's always someone else's fault.
Her successor or an appointed judge is probably over the case now if any decisions have to be made. With Ethan on probation, his life is being handled and monitored by juvenile probation for that county and he is living under their rules and requirements.
High profile cases are sometimes moved to another county but never another state. With this being a juvenile case and as such, is subject to being a closed hearing with only attorneys, parents, court personnel, and witnesses allowed, it wouldn't be subject to a change of venue unless a jury trial was requested. The only party who could have requested that jury trial was the defense and they elected to take punishment to the judge instead. So there was no change of venue and the case stayed in the county it originated.
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 Expert
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Location: SE Louisiana | Only in Texas and Massachusetts can people escape a homicide charge for being too rich and spoiled to be held responsible for their own actions. |
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Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
Location: Displaced Iowegian | komet. - 2015-10-16 3:05 PM Only in Texas and Massachusetts can people escape a homicide charge for being too rich and spoiled to be held responsible for their own actions.
Just another case of...... "Money talks....and bullsh*t walks" !!! |
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Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | NJJ - 2015-10-16 4:21 PM
komet. - 2015-10-16 3:05 PM Only in Texas and Massachusetts can people escape a homicide charge for being too rich and spoiled to be held responsible for their own actions.
Just another case of...... "Money talks....and bullsh*t walks" !!!
I know you understand why I included Mass. on that list |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1037
| Watching this and it's making me sick... Can't believe a kid gets away with something like this |
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Fact Checker
Posts: 16575
Location: Displaced Iowegian | kboltwkreations - 2015-10-16 9:21 PM Watching this and it's making me sick... Can't believe a kid gets away with something like this I agree....if you watched it, the prosecutor was dead set against this kid getting away without JAIL time......and it is VERY telling that neither his parents OR the kid have EVER apologized to ANY of the families.....
Edited by NJJ 2015-10-17 8:39 AM
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Expert
Posts: 1561
| Our govt has no fear of its populace and can get away with anything. That judge is a tyrant. |
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 Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | NJJ - 2015-10-16 4:21 PM
komet. - 2015-10-16 3:05 PM Only in Texas and Massachusetts can people escape a homicide charge for being too rich and spoiled to be held responsible for their own actions.
Just another case of...... "Money talks....and bullsh*t walks" !!!
Years ago my stepson had a friend that I loved dearly. Jeremiah practically lived with us. He had clothes, toothbrush and other special things in my home. I loved him like he was my own. Jeremiah was killed by a drunk driver a couple of months after his 13th birthday.
The stupid bail bondsman told the drunk that he would be put under the jail. Hence the drunk ran and is still free to this day. Can't find him. I lived at the courthouse and worked with Texas Highway Patrolman trying to get justice. The Texas Judicial system is a JOKE.
My husband (at that time) was kiss-ass friends with a big time lawyer in Waco. He told us nothing would ever be done to be able to prosecute and make anything stick for DWIs because the whole legal system enjoyed having their alcohol too much to follow through for fear that it might reach up and bite them in the ass at some point in time. Which is probably the truth. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1062
Location: Probably On the Road to the Next Barrel Race! | komet. - 2015-10-16 3:05 PM Only in Texas and Massachusetts can people escape a homicide charge for being too rich and spoiled to be held responsible for their own actions.
Texas and Massachusetts, huh? As a Texan, I do not appreciate being picked on and singled out for one case, even after Red Raider (thank you very much), explained the detailed intracacies of the case. If Texas is such a crappy state, why are THOUSANDS of Americans from other states fleeing here DAILY? Komet, I'd like to see you back up that bogus statement with some detailed research on the criminal justice system of the other 48 states...what... too time-consuming?? Easier to just shoot off your mouth than speak with facts? Then keep your liberal and ignorant opinions to yourself. (not that you will) |
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Is this REALLY Texas Justice???