Post by WarMachineRhodey on Dec 17, 2015 12:52:03 GMT -5
www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/headlines/20151216-authorities-fear-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-has-fled-their-reach-may-never-see-big-boy-jail.ece
Authorities want 'affluenza' teen Ethan Couch in 'big-boy jail' but fear he's fled their reach
"Ethan Couch, the wealthy Tarrant County teen who received probation for killing four people while driving drunk in 2013, is missing — and authorities fear he may have skipped the country.
Two years ago, the public anger that welled up when Couch’s attorneys blamed his crimes on “affluenza” boiled into outrage when a Fort Worth judge didn’t sentence him to jail. Now Couch, who is 18 but is still a juvenile under the Texas legal system, is wanted on suspicion of missing a check-in with his probation officer. Such a failure would be a probation violation.
Couch’s defense team said it has had no contact with him and declined to comment further.
Authorities say they don’t plan to go easy on Couch.
“Any mess-ups from now on, he’s going to be over with us,” said Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County sheriff’s office. “He’s going to see what the big-boy jail is like.”
But Couch is nowhere to be found, and authorities worry he may have fled the U.S.
“With the wealth and the wherewithal that his family has, it’s going to be a tough assignment for us to find him,” Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Wednesday.
Earlier this month, a video claiming to show Couch playing beer pong — another potential probation violation — reignited public outrage surrounding the case.
On Tuesday, Couch’s attorneys announced that the teen’s probation officer hasn’t been able to reach him and his mother for several days. Tarrant County’s probation department has ordered authorities to take Couch into custody if they see him.
The district attorney’s office said it is still investigating the beer pong video and declined to comment Wednesday on allegations that he violated probation. It did say, however, that violations could bring up to 10 years in jail.
“It’s one of those times when you hate to say ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so,” the sheriff said. “I knew he was going to end up in more trouble.”
Justice for the crash victims’ families, Anderson said, now hinges on Couch’s arrest.
“He ruined a lot of lives,” Anderson said. “We’re determined to make sure he’s fully accountable within the boundaries that are set in the case. He needs to be brought back.”
The county’s fugitive hunters are searching for the teen and talking to people who may be in contact with him. Colleen Sheehey-Church, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, also asked people to be on the lookout for Couch.
“Affluenza aside, Ethan Couch appears to show blatant disregard for the law, and he must be held accountable,” Sheehey-Church said in a prepared statement issued Wednesday. “The families impacted will never have their loved ones back. Ethan Couch must have consequences for his actions.”
The district attorney’s office has requested the case be moved from juvenile court to adult court after Couch’s 19th birthday in April. State District Judge Timothy Menikos is expected to rule on that request next year.
Experts say Couch already would be in jail or prison had he been tried in the adult system. Juvenile court judges are more likely to consider rehabilitation for young criminals than judges who oversee adults.
Authorities said Couch was partying the night of June 15, 2013, when he struck and killed a 24-year-old woman whose SUV had broken down and three people who stopped to help her.
During Couch’s trial, his defense attorneys argued that he suffered from affluenza. In other words, the defense said, his family’s wealth and a dysfunctional relationship with his parents rendered him unable to
comprehend the consequences of his actions.
In December 2013, Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to 10 years’ probation and ordered him to attend a rehabilitation facility.
“The judge in this case took a big risk by giving him probation in the face of significant media attention and the harm that the victims and their families suffered,” said Nicole Knox, a Dallas criminal defense attorney.
Boyd has since retired, leaving the case in Menikos’ hands.
Couch’s punishment could change if Menikos finds he violated his probation, which prohibits him from driving, drinking or using drugs.
Knox said prosecutors will need to prove in court that Couch violated the terms of his probation before asking for a tougher sentence.
And if they win, Knox said, it would be a slap in the face of the judicial system.
But she also said: “It’s a disappointment when a court does take a chance on someone and gives them a chance to be rehabilitated — and it doesn’t work,” she said.
Anyone with information on Couch’s whereabouts is urged to call the Tarrant County sheriff’s office at 817-884-1213."
www.businessinsider.com/judge-jen-boyd-black-teen-prison-2013-12
A Texas county judge — who spared a wealthy, white teen jail time for killing four people while drunk driving — sent a younger, black boy to juvenile detention last year for killing just one man.
In March 2012, Judge Jean Boyd sentenced a 14-year-old black boy to juvenile detention for killing someone with one, powerful punch, the Tarrant County News in Dallas reported. Prosecuted as a juvenile, the boy's name has not been revealed publicly.
Just last week, however, Boyd sentenced 16-year-old Ethan Couch to probation and rehabilitation after killing four pedestrians while driving drunk.
The boy’s psychologist, who testified in court, diagnosed the 16-year-old with “affluenza,” a faux-disorder implying his wealth impeded a sense of personal responsibility. Boyd's decision sparked outrage that family money might have prompted the boy’s freedom.
In the older case, the black offender jumped out of his car one night in October 2011 and punched Mark Gregory, standing at 5’ 1’’ and weighed 106 pounds. Gregory's head struck the pavement, and he died two days later, according to a statement from the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
Anita Lauterbach, the victim’s mother, remembers Boyd pushing for rehabilitation. Much to her relief, no facility would take the offender.
“She’s too easy on them. I don’t think she needs to be sitting not that bench,” Lauterbach told the Tarrant County News.
A treatment program likely didn’t accept the boy responsible because of the violent nature of his crime, Jamison Monroe, founder and CEO of Newport Academy — the facility where Couch will undergo his treatment — told the Tarrant County News.
The 14-year-old received a 10-year sentence, according to the statement from the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office. But, like many inmates, he probably won't serve that entire sentence.
The boy could remain in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department — "which is basically prison for juveniles" — until he's 19, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office. If he "hasn't worked in the program" before he turns 19, he could be transferred to an adult prison, where he'll serve the remainder of his sentence, the DA said. He could also be paroled into the community before he turns 19.
The 14-year-old's crime is arguably more violent than 16-year-old Ethan Couch's drunk driving. Couch, however, behaved incredibly recklessly. He and his friends reportedly stole two cases of beer from a store, and his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he killed the pedestrians."
Yea so that happened. Im sure that judge was paid off by that assholes family. Only 10 years probation for driving drunk, underage drinking, and killing 4 people when people lives have been ruined for being caught with an ounce of weed in their possession.The defense that got him off was basically "He is rich and his parents have a strained relationship so he didn't know any better". The kid didnt give any apology nor show any signs of remorse. Now this asshole kid has probably fled the country and got off for killing people scot free No to mention a clear inconsistency in rulings. I dont know if its a classism issue or racial one or a combination of both. I dont know how Jen boyd is able to sleep at night and look herself in the mirror.
Authorities want 'affluenza' teen Ethan Couch in 'big-boy jail' but fear he's fled their reach
"Ethan Couch, the wealthy Tarrant County teen who received probation for killing four people while driving drunk in 2013, is missing — and authorities fear he may have skipped the country.
Two years ago, the public anger that welled up when Couch’s attorneys blamed his crimes on “affluenza” boiled into outrage when a Fort Worth judge didn’t sentence him to jail. Now Couch, who is 18 but is still a juvenile under the Texas legal system, is wanted on suspicion of missing a check-in with his probation officer. Such a failure would be a probation violation.
Couch’s defense team said it has had no contact with him and declined to comment further.
Authorities say they don’t plan to go easy on Couch.
“Any mess-ups from now on, he’s going to be over with us,” said Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County sheriff’s office. “He’s going to see what the big-boy jail is like.”
But Couch is nowhere to be found, and authorities worry he may have fled the U.S.
“With the wealth and the wherewithal that his family has, it’s going to be a tough assignment for us to find him,” Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Wednesday.
Earlier this month, a video claiming to show Couch playing beer pong — another potential probation violation — reignited public outrage surrounding the case.
On Tuesday, Couch’s attorneys announced that the teen’s probation officer hasn’t been able to reach him and his mother for several days. Tarrant County’s probation department has ordered authorities to take Couch into custody if they see him.
The district attorney’s office said it is still investigating the beer pong video and declined to comment Wednesday on allegations that he violated probation. It did say, however, that violations could bring up to 10 years in jail.
“It’s one of those times when you hate to say ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so,” the sheriff said. “I knew he was going to end up in more trouble.”
Justice for the crash victims’ families, Anderson said, now hinges on Couch’s arrest.
“He ruined a lot of lives,” Anderson said. “We’re determined to make sure he’s fully accountable within the boundaries that are set in the case. He needs to be brought back.”
The county’s fugitive hunters are searching for the teen and talking to people who may be in contact with him. Colleen Sheehey-Church, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, also asked people to be on the lookout for Couch.
“Affluenza aside, Ethan Couch appears to show blatant disregard for the law, and he must be held accountable,” Sheehey-Church said in a prepared statement issued Wednesday. “The families impacted will never have their loved ones back. Ethan Couch must have consequences for his actions.”
The district attorney’s office has requested the case be moved from juvenile court to adult court after Couch’s 19th birthday in April. State District Judge Timothy Menikos is expected to rule on that request next year.
Experts say Couch already would be in jail or prison had he been tried in the adult system. Juvenile court judges are more likely to consider rehabilitation for young criminals than judges who oversee adults.
Authorities said Couch was partying the night of June 15, 2013, when he struck and killed a 24-year-old woman whose SUV had broken down and three people who stopped to help her.
During Couch’s trial, his defense attorneys argued that he suffered from affluenza. In other words, the defense said, his family’s wealth and a dysfunctional relationship with his parents rendered him unable to
comprehend the consequences of his actions.
In December 2013, Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to 10 years’ probation and ordered him to attend a rehabilitation facility.
“The judge in this case took a big risk by giving him probation in the face of significant media attention and the harm that the victims and their families suffered,” said Nicole Knox, a Dallas criminal defense attorney.
Boyd has since retired, leaving the case in Menikos’ hands.
Couch’s punishment could change if Menikos finds he violated his probation, which prohibits him from driving, drinking or using drugs.
Knox said prosecutors will need to prove in court that Couch violated the terms of his probation before asking for a tougher sentence.
And if they win, Knox said, it would be a slap in the face of the judicial system.
But she also said: “It’s a disappointment when a court does take a chance on someone and gives them a chance to be rehabilitated — and it doesn’t work,” she said.
Anyone with information on Couch’s whereabouts is urged to call the Tarrant County sheriff’s office at 817-884-1213."
www.businessinsider.com/judge-jen-boyd-black-teen-prison-2013-12
A Texas county judge — who spared a wealthy, white teen jail time for killing four people while drunk driving — sent a younger, black boy to juvenile detention last year for killing just one man.
In March 2012, Judge Jean Boyd sentenced a 14-year-old black boy to juvenile detention for killing someone with one, powerful punch, the Tarrant County News in Dallas reported. Prosecuted as a juvenile, the boy's name has not been revealed publicly.
Just last week, however, Boyd sentenced 16-year-old Ethan Couch to probation and rehabilitation after killing four pedestrians while driving drunk.
The boy’s psychologist, who testified in court, diagnosed the 16-year-old with “affluenza,” a faux-disorder implying his wealth impeded a sense of personal responsibility. Boyd's decision sparked outrage that family money might have prompted the boy’s freedom.
In the older case, the black offender jumped out of his car one night in October 2011 and punched Mark Gregory, standing at 5’ 1’’ and weighed 106 pounds. Gregory's head struck the pavement, and he died two days later, according to a statement from the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
Anita Lauterbach, the victim’s mother, remembers Boyd pushing for rehabilitation. Much to her relief, no facility would take the offender.
“She’s too easy on them. I don’t think she needs to be sitting not that bench,” Lauterbach told the Tarrant County News.
A treatment program likely didn’t accept the boy responsible because of the violent nature of his crime, Jamison Monroe, founder and CEO of Newport Academy — the facility where Couch will undergo his treatment — told the Tarrant County News.
The 14-year-old received a 10-year sentence, according to the statement from the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office. But, like many inmates, he probably won't serve that entire sentence.
The boy could remain in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department — "which is basically prison for juveniles" — until he's 19, according to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office. If he "hasn't worked in the program" before he turns 19, he could be transferred to an adult prison, where he'll serve the remainder of his sentence, the DA said. He could also be paroled into the community before he turns 19.
The 14-year-old's crime is arguably more violent than 16-year-old Ethan Couch's drunk driving. Couch, however, behaved incredibly recklessly. He and his friends reportedly stole two cases of beer from a store, and his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he killed the pedestrians."
Yea so that happened. Im sure that judge was paid off by that assholes family. Only 10 years probation for driving drunk, underage drinking, and killing 4 people when people lives have been ruined for being caught with an ounce of weed in their possession.The defense that got him off was basically "He is rich and his parents have a strained relationship so he didn't know any better". The kid didnt give any apology nor show any signs of remorse. Now this asshole kid has probably fled the country and got off for killing people scot free No to mention a clear inconsistency in rulings. I dont know if its a classism issue or racial one or a combination of both. I dont know how Jen boyd is able to sleep at night and look herself in the mirror.
