"Rich Kid Defense Works" Teen Gets Probation for DUI Wreck that Killed 4

Race really doesn't have as much to do with it as finances. Poor white people get ****ty trials too. Remember, this was a white kid who killed white people.

The bottom line is rich people get a law team with several lawyers, legal aides and investigators. They can bog down the courts with red tape and paperwork by filing motions and countless other legal maneuvers and then use that to play on the sympathies of the jury.

TL,DR - Money helps you game the system. Ask Roger Clemens and OJ.

 

This is why I hate rich people

 

If he came from a rich black family, he would have been given life.

 

I'm quite certain that race and socioeconomic status play large roles in influencing how the justice system works.

 

If you believe this, then pull some data comparing rich white people vs rich black people's conviction rates.

 

And is DUI a violent crime? Surely if this is "affluenza" as the headlines claim it is, there should be an example of a poor teenager being tried as an adult for DUI and getting the book thrown at him. I haven't seen anyone actually provide such an example amidst this hysteria. Heck, for better or for worse, there are many normal adults who commit it and get such light sentences.

 

exactly

even the thought of only 20 years for killing 4 people is dumb

 

HAHAHA it never got locked up.

 

I disagree, there are many stories of rich black people getting off as well. The system can be gamed by throwing money at it, regardless of race.

Just a few examples: Don King, OJ Simpson, Barry Bonds, etc.

Of course there are more rich white people than there are rich minorities, so more rich white people "get away with it," but people of color can get away with it too.

 

The judge probably suffered from the same thing.

 

This is my point. Its more about money and less about race. Poverty is rampant among blacks, so its viewed as a slam dunk for the prosecutes. The justice system, much like wall street, is just a numbers game. Its about politicians, judges and lawyers padding their stats than justice and seeking reform.

 

Why can't it be both? If you're rich, you're more likely to get away with things. If you're white, you're more likely to get away with things. If you're a woman, you're more likely to get away with things, etc. If you're a rich, white, woman, you're most likely to get away with things. There's no reason it has to be an either-or. There's plenty of evidence to support each of these.

 

I see your point, but the option you mentioned isn't afforded to everyone. While the judge may very well have given his sentence regardless of the defense offered, you're implying the possibilitythat the judge made it in spite of it, after all, such a defense raised would likely bring to light an unofficial rap sheet that confirmed the kid's destructive lifestyle similar to him stealing alcohol and vehicles with his buddies that he later crippled for life.

If I was among the victim's families sitting through such a defense at court, I would'nt be as level headed or considerate to assume the judge had other higher motivations.

 

What do you mean, "isn't afforded to everyone?" They're tossing him into a rehabilitation facility, which is essentially a jail. A nice jail, but that's because the purpose is rehabilitation, which you don't exactly get when you throw people into the Chateau d'Ilf. As I'm arguing, the fact that the kid is rich is far less important than the fact that this is a 16-year old first time offender, but that doesn't stop the media from playing on populist sentiment to get the great headlines.

And?

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/manhunt-texas-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-continues-n482486

Manhunt for Texas 'Affluenza' Teen Ethan Couch Continues



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Federal and local agencies continued searching Friday for a rich Texas teenager described as having "affluenza" while on trial for killing four people in a drunk-driving crash in 2013.

Ethan Couch, 18, was placed on Tarrant County's most wanted list after his parole officer wasn't able to reach him or his mother Tanya, with whom he lives. On Thursday afternoon, U.S. Marshals and the FBI joined the search, officials said.

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson told CNN's "AC 360" Thursday evening he "wouldn't be surprised" if Couch and his mother had fled the country.

"My gut feeling says they've gone a long way. They have the money, they have the ability to disappear," the sheriff said. "I don't believe they're the kind of people who would have run a short distance. I believe they planned this."

Terry Grisham, a spokesman for the Tarrant County's sheriff's office, told NBC News on Friday that officials expected the search to take a long time, "unless we get a real lucky break."

"He is a priority," Grisham said. "We're not on a timetable. We're going to take as long as it takes."

The sheriff's office started searching for Couch after he missed an appointment with his probation officer on Tuesday. Officials went to the house where he was allegedly staying with his mom, and found the place empty — save for a pinball machine, according to Reuters.

Earlier this month, a brief video emerged on Twitter of young men playing beer pong. The person who posted the video claimed Couch, who cannot drink or use drugs and drive, was in the video and was violating his court terms. The district attorney says it is investigating the claim, but would not confirm that Couch was in the video.

Couch met with his probation officer around the time the video surfaced, but didn't return after that, Reuters reported.

"I wasn't surprised at all that he ran," the sheriff told CNN, adding that he had been "expecting something like this."

A directive to apprehend Couch has been entered into a national database for law enforcement officers, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported.

Grisham said officials have been interviewing people every day to try to get information on where Couch is.

"We will follow every lead as far as we can take it," he said.

Couch admitted to the 2013 crash but didn't get any jail time, thanks in part to an unusual defense strategy: A psychologist who testified on the wealthy teen's behalf said Couch was afflicted with "affluenza," which made him unable to distinguish right from wrong due to his privileged upbringing.

Affluenza is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as an official diagnosis.

"I'm frustrated," Anderson said Thursday. "To have done what he did, take four innocent lives, impact those families in a way that none of us can fathom and never once express any sentiment of remorse, never ever had any guilt feelings or bad feelings — it was all about him, what could he do to get out of it?"

At the time of the crash, Couch was 16 and had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit. He received 10 years of probation and orders to go to a rehab center.

"We're not going to give up. We're going come after you," Anderson said.

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I absolutely love that they felt the need to put this line in the article:

Affluenza is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as an official diagnosis.

 

Money + Texas = He was the real victim

 

I'm not sure what Clemens did but OJ was a ****ing misogynist and repeatedly humiliated the mother of his latest children in public whiling physically abusing her behind closed doors and in public. She decided to finally try to escape the psychological terror and he brutally murdered her. The truth is, regardless of race, a guy like OJ or Eric Hernandez are not the kind of people you would ever want to have a committed relationship with.