PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
Louisiana Estate and Injury Attorneys
(504) 384-7978 www.ScottVicknair.com 909 Poydras St., Suite 2025 New Orleans, LA 70112 Inside This Issue
1 2
Resolution Remix
Would You Put a Needle in Your Eye? ‘Overruled’ With Brad Scott and David Vicknair
3
Cheesy Chicken Chowder 3 Not-So-Bright Burglars
4
From Tragedy to Outrage: Ethan Couch’s Sentencing and ‘Affluenza’ When Privilege Kills
A LOOK BACK AT THE CASE OF ‘AFFLUENZA’ TEEN ETHAN COUCH
It was a case that enraged the nation: A teenager named Ethan Couch combined alcohol, arrogance, reckless behavior, and manslaughter in what became known as the “affluenza” case. On June 15, 2013, the 16-year-old and a group of friends stole beer from a store and had a party at his parents’ house before
going for a drive. As Couch was careening down the road at 70 mph in a 40-mph zone, he barreled into the town of Burleson, Texas. Speeding along the rural two-lane street, Couch plowed through an SUV that had stopped with car trouble on the side of the road, then slammed into another car that was stopped near the SUV. In the process, he killed four people and seriously injured two others. Upon his arrest shortly after the terrible crash, Couch’s blood alcohol level was reported as 0.24 — three times the legal limit for drunk driving in Texas. Two years later, Couch stood trial for the devastation he had caused. He pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter, but his attorneys put forth what came to be known as the “affluenza” defense. A psychologist testified for the defense that Couch was a product of wealthy, privileged parents who never set limits for him, so he didn’t
fully understand what it meant to have consequences for his actions. Prosecutors had sought 20 years in prison, but Couch received no prison time. Judge Jean Hudson Boyd gave Couch 10 years of probation, along with an order to undergo long-term therapy. The decision by the juvenile court judge outraged the victims’ families, drunk driving activists, and most of the country. Over the past decade, Couch has cycled through bouts of disappearing and continuing alcohol abuse. In 2016, he fled with his mother to Mexico to avoid being arrested for a parole violation but was arrested soon after. The judge in that case sentenced Couch to two years in prison. After his release in 2018, he was again arrested in 2020 for allegedly violating his parole, but the charges were later dismissed. His probation is due to end in 2024.
4 | (504) 384-7978
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator