joeboosauce
CAGiversary!
Obviously, everyone is going to agree this is massively f-d up. Just hearing the father's sorrow is heartbreaking. This touches upon the class (and the linked racial) divide in America.
"Tell me again how there are not two Americas and two sets of rules. Does anyone for a second think if this kid was poor and black he would not be facing death row?"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/11/1262005/-Teen-Kills-4-Judge-LITERALLY-Lets-Him-Off-Because-He-is-Rich?detail=facebook
WED DEC 11, 2013 AT 12:31 PM PST
Teen Kills 4; Judge LITERALLY Lets Him Off Because He is Rich!
I wish this was a snark. But this is so shocking it makes me ill.
16-year old Ethan Couch was driving drunk at THREE times the legal limit and had Valium in his system. He plowed into four people going 70 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone, killing them. Other victims are severly injured; one has severe brain damage. Even after he killed those people, he was uncooperative and combative with the emergency services and walked away from the police saying "I'm outta here".
He pleaded guilty, of course. But Ethan's parents are very, very, very wealthy. (We are talking the 1%.) They hired an attorney that brought on a psychologist to say Couch was "a product of wealth" and was used to getting "whatever he wanted". Because he was so afluent and accustomed to never having consequences, the attorney argued that he should get therapy as opposed to jail.
This was the argument, mind you, used in the defense:
He said Couch got whatever he wanted. As an example, Miller said Couch's parents gave no punishment after police ticketed the then-15-year-old when he was found in a parked pickup with a passed out, undressed 14-year-old girl.
Miller also pointed out that Couch was allowed to drive at 13. He said the teen was emotionally flat and needed years of therapy. At the time of the fatal wreck, Couch had a blood alcohol content of .24, said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson. It is illegal for a minor to drive with any amount of alcohol in his or her system.
Prosecutors tried to get 20 years. The Defense argued for therapy and probation.
Texas State District Judge Jean Boyd sided with the Defense and gave him probation:
(Video below. If embed no work--here is link to news report.)
The kid is not remorseful in the slightest. I'm sure he always expected to get off. The families are devastated.
Tell me again how there are not two Americas and two sets of rules. Does anyone for a second think if this kid was poor and black he would not be facing death row?
Disgraceful.
"Tell me again how there are not two Americas and two sets of rules. Does anyone for a second think if this kid was poor and black he would not be facing death row?"
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/12/11/1262005/-Teen-Kills-4-Judge-LITERALLY-Lets-Him-Off-Because-He-is-Rich?detail=facebook
WED DEC 11, 2013 AT 12:31 PM PST
Teen Kills 4; Judge LITERALLY Lets Him Off Because He is Rich!
I wish this was a snark. But this is so shocking it makes me ill.
16-year old Ethan Couch was driving drunk at THREE times the legal limit and had Valium in his system. He plowed into four people going 70 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone, killing them. Other victims are severly injured; one has severe brain damage. Even after he killed those people, he was uncooperative and combative with the emergency services and walked away from the police saying "I'm outta here".
He pleaded guilty, of course. But Ethan's parents are very, very, very wealthy. (We are talking the 1%.) They hired an attorney that brought on a psychologist to say Couch was "a product of wealth" and was used to getting "whatever he wanted". Because he was so afluent and accustomed to never having consequences, the attorney argued that he should get therapy as opposed to jail.
This was the argument, mind you, used in the defense:
He said Couch got whatever he wanted. As an example, Miller said Couch's parents gave no punishment after police ticketed the then-15-year-old when he was found in a parked pickup with a passed out, undressed 14-year-old girl.
Miller also pointed out that Couch was allowed to drive at 13. He said the teen was emotionally flat and needed years of therapy. At the time of the fatal wreck, Couch had a blood alcohol content of .24, said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson. It is illegal for a minor to drive with any amount of alcohol in his or her system.
Prosecutors tried to get 20 years. The Defense argued for therapy and probation.
Texas State District Judge Jean Boyd sided with the Defense and gave him probation:
(Video below. If embed no work--here is link to news report.)
The kid is not remorseful in the slightest. I'm sure he always expected to get off. The families are devastated.
Tell me again how there are not two Americas and two sets of rules. Does anyone for a second think if this kid was poor and black he would not be facing death row?
Disgraceful.