affluenza defense

[stoned-trout]

I wish I could get probation for taking 4 peoples lives...I got a list too lol...yeehaw ..bad parenting ..they both should get 10..mom and son...

 

[lawlrus]

I don't know which would be worse, giving him that insane sentence because she believed in it or giving him that sentence to prove a point. The point being, she knew he would violate the terms.
If to prove a point, what would the point be if this punk did it again and killed another 4 people while on this "probation"?

Well I don't think it was really "proving a point" so much as trying to make the best out of a shitty situation. You have a kid with a totally fucked up family life who has been raised by two whackos with more money than sense. Not saying he isn't responsible, quite the contrary, but the reality of the situation is that there isn't much chance that an 18 year old who was raised in that sort of environment is going to make a big 180 all of the sudden. Like I said, if she had thrown the book at them right off the bat, there is a much better chance he would have skated free. The 10 year probation was pretty much guaranteed to either force him to rehabilitate or force him to violate his own probation and land in hot water that his attorneys can't pull him out of as easily.

 

[HempKat]

I can appreciate that because it hits two salient points of how the criminal justice system is supposed to work -- the idea of attempting to rehabilitate versus simply locking people up to repeat the cycle, and the idea of personal responsibility which allowed this idiot kid to take what should have been seen as a totally undeserved blessing and bend himself over to fuck his own ass with it.

The problem with rehabilitation is that it only works if you really want to be rehabilitated. You might learn some facts you didn't know but really most people know what they need to do to change they're just mostly too weak to enforce it on themselves. That's why rehabs seem to work. It makes people do what they need to do. Most of them are too short. In recent years most drug rehabs have been reduced to 30 days. In treatment terms that's barely enough time to scratch the surface of what people's problems are.

I guess it wasn't that surprising that the kid only got 10 years. I mean it wasn't like he walked up to them and shot them, he had an accident while DUI and the people in the other car died as a result of the crash. It still irritates me though knowing in some states people get harsher punishments for having marijuana in their possession. One of the big issues about this case is that since he is still considered a child if they continue to punish him as a child he could be out in a fairly short time when he becomes an adult. Perhaps the best compromise would have been to make it such that if probation was ever violated he would then be subject to be sentenced as an adult.

 

[lawlrus]

The problem with rehabilitation is that it only works if you really want to be rehabilitated. You might learn some facts you didn't know but really most people know what they need to do to change they're just mostly too weak to enforce it on themselves. That's why rehabs seem to work. It makes people do what they need to do. Most of them are too short. In recent years most drug rehabs have been reduced to 30 days. In treatment terms that's barely enough time to scratch the surface of what people's problems are.

I guess it wasn't that surprising that the kid only got 10 years. I mean it wasn't like he walked up to them and shot them, he had an accident while DUI and the people in the other car died as a result of the crash. It still irritates me though knowing in some states people get harsher punishments for having marijuana in their possession. One of the big issues about this case is that since he is still considered a child if they continue to punish him as a child he could be out in a fairly short time when he becomes an adult. Perhaps the best compromise would have been to make it such that if probation was ever violated he would then be subject to be sentenced as an adult.

That's not the case though, he's 18 now so any additional charges levied will be done so as though he is an adult. The judge knew what they were doing.

Agreed with your point about rehabilitation, but personally, I'll take a small chance of turning one's life around versus the horrifyingly corrupt private prison industry blatantly and unapologetically padding their pockets with the suffering of others. Not to say that there aren't some really bad people out there that would never be safe to have on the streets, but fuck if I don't feel like I'm playing God by trying to be the arbiter of who is good and who is bad when I say shit like that. I was raised in a reasonably good environment with reasonably good parents and I still did some seriously stupid shit growing up, so I can only imagine where I would be now if I had not had the opportunities I did. But I digress...this guy's a shithead, hope they throw the book at his parents at least, that much we can agree on.

 

[shithawk420]

No.he will be charged as a minor becuase he committed the crime as a minor.strange but true

 

[lawlrus]

No.he will be charged as a minor becuase he committed the crime as a minor.strange but true

"any additional charges"

 

[lawlrus]

Also,

As he was 16 at the time of the case, Couch was tried in a juvenile court where he received his probation sentence. However, Texas prosecutors have been seeking to have Couch's juvenile probation moved to an adult court and a hearing date was already set for January when he fled the country.

"We no longer have to be concerned about the best interest of the child," Tarrant County Attorney General Sharen Wilson said at a press conference Tuesday.

If Couch's current probation is revoked because he left the country, Texas law states that he will be sent to a juvenile facility until his 19th birthday — April 11.

"If we proceed in a juvenile sentence his maximum sentence that he will receive is four months of confinement," Wilson said. "That, in my opinion, is not a sufficient punishment for the taking of four lives."

By transferring his case to an adult court, prosecutors can potentially extend Couch's probation, as well as send him to jail for 120 days. By comparison, April 11 is only 101 days after January 1.

"An adult judge can instate or enforce his 10-year probated sentence that was given to him before — which means he'd be on additional eight years probation," Wilson said, according to NBC News.

The punishment for breaking probation is also more severe for adults, according to Wilson.

"If he violates his adult probation, he could be looking at 10 years on each death — which we would ask the court to stack — which is a potential of 40."

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-...rge-texas-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-as-adult

 

[OranguTrump]

Rich out of touch parents, well paid out of touch lawyer, insulated & out of touch judge.

Theirs is a different world from ours - made & paid for by them - no concept of "normal" or responsibility when you can buy ANYTHING.

The kid is a shit & deserves full punishment, but his parents made that monster,

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

The news said Mommy bought him the best lawyer in Mexico. The lawyer is dragging his feet now. Something about the spoiled kids probation is just about over. I guess if the lawyer waits a little, the kid can come back with no punishment. I just can't wrap my head around being so rich and spoiled.