"I'm Ethan Couch, I'll Get You Out Of This"
When sixteen-year-old Ethan Couch killed four people and paralyzed another, the Best&Brightest here at TTAC expressed an almost universally negative view of his actions and the “Affluenza” defense that enabled him to avoid prison in favor of a $450,000 rehabilitation vacation.
Any defenders Mr. Couch did have, however, will likely reconsider their position on the matter given the latest news from the incident.
Given that the criminal court’s ruling on the crash amounts to a state-endorsed label of parental misconduct, the civil attorneys for everyone involved have to be salivating. Still, according to at least one attorney, the “affluenza” verdict might not help the civil cases at all. A few notes on the psychology of “affluenza”, along with some first-class frothing-at-the-mouth, can be found at Daily Kos.
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In Texas, as in many parts of the US (e.g. Los Angeles and O.J.), when someone with money commits a serious felony, it becomes feast time for the criminal justice system. First, you have an expensive criminal trial with (often) a bribe to the judge. With dope law violations, this is usually the end of it. When death(s) are involved, wrongful death suits sweeten the pot. In murder cases, the doers usually end up in jail (OJ) or murdered themselves (unless they have really serious money). I personally know of two cases where a murderer was bled dry and then murdered. No effort was ever made to find the killers. One celebrated case a few decades back involved a Houston woman named Candice Mossler who, along with her boyfriend, murdered her aged husband more or less on impulse and left a blood spattered house. When they sobered up, Candice had the presence of mind to call the preeminent Houston defense attorney of the time, Richard (Racehorse) Haynes, for advice as to what to do next. The subject of legal fees came up. Racehorse replied "half" - this according to Racehorse himself in later years. In this case, at least the surviving families of the victims of what appears to have been a seriously negligent accident will get some blood money. Some of the toilers in our low-paid criminal justice system will get an unexpected payday. The kid and his despicable father should get, more or less, what they respectively deserve.
If affluenza got him out of the criminal trial, shouldn't that same logic apply to the civil case? I mean, just fine the family for the full $20M. They are affluent, after all.
why are we less upset about this? http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Manslaughter-charge-in-S-F-crash-that-killed-boy-5068931.php 70 mph on a residential street at 7 a.m. 58 year old woman, stone cold sober.
Saw an example of the excellence of the Texas judicial system in the Houston Chronicle yesterday . A woman was sentenced to 70 years in prison for stealing Christmas lights . Admittedly she had some priors but still- 70 years for stealing Christmas lights ?