Semi-OT: "Affluenza" Texas teen (drunk-driving killer) goes missing

[l***@yahoo.com]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-affluenza-idUSKBN0U037820151218

First paragraphs:

A manhunt was underway on Thursday for a wealthy Texas teenager, described at trial as being afflicted with "affluenza," who apparently fled to avoid violating a probation deal that kept him out of prison for killing four in a drunken-driving crash.

The 18-year-old named by Tarrant County officials as Ethan Couch, and placed on the county's most wanted list, missed his mandatory meeting with his probation officer, prompting a warrant for his apprehension to be issued on Dec. 11.

Couch's name has been entered into a national fugitive database search, law enforcement officials said. The U.S. Marshals Service has joined local authorities in the search.

"He has no idea what he faces when he is found," said Tarrant County Sheriff's spokesman Terry Grisham...

(snip)


Lenona.

[Kenny McCormack]

Post by l***@yahoo.com
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-affluenza-idUSKBN0U037820151218
A manhunt was underway on Thursday for a wealthy Texas teenager, described
at trial as being afflicted with "affluenza," who apparently fled to avoid
violating a probation deal that kept him out of prison for killing four in
a drunken-driving crash.

...

Another complacent and understanding (and well compensated by the family)
jury, no doubt.

[Kenny McCormack]

Post by Kenny McCormack

Post by l***@yahoo.com
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-affluenza-idUSKBN0U037820151218
A manhunt was underway on Thursday for a wealthy Texas teenager, described
at trial as being afflicted with "affluenza," who apparently fled to avoid
violating a probation deal that kept him out of prison for killing four in
a drunken-driving crash.

...

Post by Kenny McCormack

Post by l***@yahoo.com
"He has no idea what he faces when he is found," said Tarrant County
Sheriff's spokesman Terry Grisham...

Another complacent and understanding (and well compensated by the family)
jury, no doubt.

[c***@aol.com]

The feel good story of the day.

[l***@yahoo.com]

"Texas 'affluenza' teen to be returned to US from Mexico after capture"

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-affluenza-teen-to-be-returned-to-us-from-mexico-after-capture/ar-BBo0uX4?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

Excerpts:

...Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother, Tonya Couch, were taken into custody
on Monday evening in the Pacific Ocean resort of Puerto Vallarta...

...In Texas, Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said that when the Couches
arrived back in the United States, the young man would appear in juvenile
court and his mother would be arrested for hindering apprehension.

"They had planned to disappear," Anderson told a news conference in Fort
Worth, Texas. "They even had something that was almost akin to a going-
away party before they left town."...

And, a video:

"Victim's dad: 'No surprise' affluenza teen is missing"

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/other/victims-dad-no-surprise-affluenza-teen-is-missing/vi-BBnHAAj


Lenona.

[l***@yahoo.com]

Found the NYT article, with a comment that made me think "wow, I never
thought of that!"

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/us/affluenza-ethan-couch-mexico.html?_r=0

(this comment may have come after some readers condemned the judge from
the original trial):

Carrie Connecticut 4 hours ago
"Apparently the Judge may actually have been pretty smart: The theory goes
the DA was wrong for agreeing to charge the kid as a minor. This kid, who
was 17.5 at the trial, would have served 6 months and then had his record
expunged, so the judge sentenced him to 10 years of probation knowing that
he was likely too big a jerk to not mess up for a decade and would then be
able to be charged as an adult, which will now happen and he will likely go
to prison for 10 years."

(That was one of 18 NYT picks from 409 comments.)


Lenona.

[l***@yahoo.com]

And here's another:

mh12987 New Jersey 38 minutes ago

"My favorite part of the story is that no one even mentions the crime of
the theft of the beer. Contrast Michael Brown's theft of some cigars, which
was widely cited as justification for hunting him down and shooting him."

[Sarah Ehrett's Lesbian Love Interest]

Post by l***@yahoo.com
Found the NYT article, with a comment that made me think "wow, I never
thought of that!"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/us/affluenza-ethan-couch-mexico.html?_r=0
(this comment may have come after some readers condemned the judge from
Carrie Connecticut 4 hours ago
"Apparently the Judge may actually have been pretty smart: The theory goes
the DA was wrong for agreeing to charge the kid as a minor. This kid, who
was 17.5 at the trial, would have served 6 months and then had his record
expunged, so the judge sentenced him to 10 years of probation knowing that
he was likely too big a jerk to not mess up for a decade and would then be
able to be charged as an adult, which will now happen and he will likely go
to prison for 10 years."
(That was one of 18 NYT picks from 409 comments.)
Lenona.

What part of probation couldn't he handle? Did they restrict the number of butlers he has? On the amount of hours he could spend on his X-box? Perhaps it was the draconian restrictions on his polo pony play? How hard was his life that he had to take his mommy to "don't drink the water" Mexico? His probationary conditions makes my life seem like a life sentence on Devil's Island.

[Larc]

On Tue, 29 Dec 2015 12:34:42 -0800 (PST), ***@yahoo.com wrote:

| Found the NYT article, with a comment that made me think "wow, I never
| thought of that!"
|
| http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/us/affluenza-ethan-couch-mexico.html?_r=0
|
| (this comment may have come after some readers condemned the judge from
| the original trial):
|
| Carrie Connecticut 4 hours ago
| "Apparently the Judge may actually have been pretty smart: The theory goes
| the DA was wrong for agreeing to charge the kid as a minor. This kid, who
| was 17.5 at the trial, would have served 6 months and then had his record
| expunged, so the judge sentenced him to 10 years of probation knowing that
| he was likely too big a jerk to not mess up for a decade and would then be
| able to be charged as an adult, which will now happen and he will likely go
| to prison for 10 years."

Good! Now they remove his suspension and have him actively serve his 10-year
sentence. I think his mother deserves at least 2-3 years of active time.

Larc

[David Carson]

Post by l***@yahoo.com
Carrie Connecticut 4 hours ago
"Apparently the Judge may actually have been pretty smart: The theory goes
the DA was wrong for agreeing to charge the kid as a minor. This kid, who
was 17.5 at the trial, would have served 6 months and then had his record
expunged, so the judge sentenced him to 10 years of probation knowing that
he was likely too big a jerk to not mess up for a decade and would then be
able to be charged as an adult, which will now happen and he will likely go
to prison for 10 years."

If you replace "mess up" with "kill more people," it doesn't sound so
smart.

David Carson

[l***@yahoo.com]

Post by David Carson

Post by l***@yahoo.com
Carrie Connecticut 4 hours ago
"Apparently the Judge may actually have been pretty smart: The theory goes
the DA was wrong for agreeing to charge the kid as a minor. This kid, who
was 17.5 at the trial, would have served 6 months and then had his record
expunged, so the judge sentenced him to 10 years of probation knowing that
he was likely too big a jerk to not mess up for a decade and would then be
able to be charged as an adult, which will now happen and he will likely go
to prison for 10 years."

If you replace "mess up" with "kill more people," it doesn't sound so
smart.

Maybe, but even if he had been locked up for six months, he could have gone
on to kill people anyway. At least this way he won't have a clean record -
and the gamble paid off, in that he didn't kill any more people but got caught.

Now, just how likely is it that's he going to serve time?


Lenona.

[c***@aol.com]

Take the whole family and string them up in the public square.

[l***@yahoo.com]

Don't know why I didn't see it before.


"No such thing as ‘affluenza?’ Not so fast."

By Fred Barbash January 7, 2016

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/07/no-such-thing-as-affluenza-not-so-fast/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1b97b60853e3


Excerpt:

...But in some news accounts, there’s a misunderstanding of the circumstances in which the term was used. It was not deployed as a defense to the offenses committed by Couch, four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury. Couch pleaded guilty.

“Affluenza” showed up as his attorneys attempted to persuade the judge not to follow recommendations by prosecutors in the juvenile proceeding that he be put away for 20 years.

It was an attempt at mitigation, which Los Angeles lawyer and legal scholar Lawrence Taylor describes in his treatise “Drunk Driving Defense” as offering “circumstances that tend to lessen the apparent badness of the particular crime or the apparent badness of the defendant.” The most common examples include the absence of prior offenses, the accused’s “extreme youth” or sometimes low IQ, remorse and apology and the potential for rehabilitation...

(snip)



Lenona.

[Kenny McCormack]

Post by l***@yahoo.com
Don't know why I didn't see it before.
"No such thing as ‘affluenza?’ Not so fast."
By Fred Barbash January 7, 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/07/no-such-thing-as-affluenza-not-so-fast/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1b97b60853e3
...But in some news accounts, there’s a misunderstanding of the
circumstances in which the term was used. It was not deployed as a
defense to the offenses committed by Couch, four counts of intoxication
manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious
bodily injury. Couch pleaded guilty.

Nonsense.

6 of one, half a dozen of the other.

[Sarah Ehrett]

Post by l***@yahoo.com
"Texas 'affluenza' teen to be returned to US from Mexico after capture"
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/texas-affluenza-teen-to-be-returned-to-us-from-mexico-after-capture/ar-BBo0uX4?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout
...Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother, Tonya Couch, were taken into custody
on Monday evening in the Pacific Ocean resort of Puerto Vallarta...
...In Texas, Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said that when the Couches
arrived back in the United States, the young man would appear in juvenile
court and his mother would be arrested for hindering apprehension.

Saw a press conference earlier today and Texas is going to get him
into the adult legal system. If he's put in Juvie, they can only hold
him until he is 19 years old. His 19th birthday is 4 months from now.
Texas thinks that's not nearly enough time for the little bastard.

[J.D. Baldwin]

Post by l***@yahoo.com
"Texas 'affluenza' teen to be returned to US from Mexico after capture"

I'm gonna need a new Schadenfreudometer.

[danny burstein]

Post by J.D. Baldwin

Post by l***@yahoo.com
"Texas 'affluenza' teen to be returned to US from Mexico after capture"

I'm gonna need a new Schadenfreudometer.

let him and his mom spend the next six months
in a Mexican jail while wiaing for the extradition
requests to get processes...