Defense attorneys have an interesting job. They are tasked with defending their clients vigorously, no matter the crime, no matter how obviously guilty they are. Some defense attorneys have made it a mission to defend the worst of the worst with the sole objective of making sure they donât get the death penalty. Others make up crafty nonsense excuses for the defenses crimes. Sometimes these excuses work. Such a bewildering excuse worked for âaffluenza teenâ Ethan Couch, who has probably not learned his lesson.
Back in the summer 2013, when Couch was 16, he got profoundly drunk after he and his friends stole some beer from a Wal-Mart. Later that same night Couch struck and killed four people and injured two others in his dadâs pick-up truck. His attorneys came up with a genius defense for his juvenile court trial: He had affluenza, or he was so wealthy and had such a lack of parental structure that he was incapable of knowing right from wrong. This defenseâthe first time affluenza had been used in a high-profile caseâmight actually make sense when tinkered and flipped to apply to kids in poverty, but the world doesnât work that way. Prosecutors asked that Couch be sentenced for 20 years, but he ultimately got a slap on the wrist by Judge Jean Hudson Boyd: Ten years of probation.
Now 18, the affluenza teen is on the lam, squandering his second chance. Couch allegedly missed a check-in with his probation officer, which is, of course, a big no-no. Couchâs attorneys said they havenât been able to reach him or his mother, who is also missing, for several days. Tarrant Countyâs probation department has asked police to arrest Couch if they spot him, and the search has now expanded to include the Texas Rangers, U.S. Marshals, and the FBI.
If Couch is captured, heâll face some real consequences. Terry Grisham, spokesman for the Tarrant County sheriffâs office said that âheâs going to see what the big-boy jail is like.â But catching up with Couch might prove a little difficult for the time being, because authorities are speculating that Couch may have fled the country.
In a statement, Mothers Against Drunk Driving national president Colleen Sheehey-Church called his disappearance âegregious,â and that somebody should be held accountable for the four lives that were lost. ââAffluenzaâ aside, Ethan Couch appears to show blatant disregard for the law, and he must be held accountable,â she said. âThe families impacted will never have their loved ones back; Ethan Couch must have consequences for his actions.â
Earlier this month, a Twitter user uploaded a video of some teenage boys playing beer pong, CCâd authorities and alleged that âya boy ethan couchâ was participating in the game, thus violating his probation. The user, @BlondeSpectre, nĂ©e Hannah Hardee, says she wasnât at the party in question, she just found the video in October and saved it, which was smart because the original source has deleted it. Hardee said that âseeing the interviews with the victimsâ familiesâ prompted her to post it over two months after discovering it. The video is currently being investigated by authorities.
ya boy ethan couch violating probation. i got more if u want @CityofBurleson @TarrantCountyDA pic.twitter.com/otiGprQ1uD
â h (@BlondeSpectre) December 2, 2015
The Tarrant County district attorneyâs office hasnât commented on the video investigations or about the allegations that Couch has violated probation, but they did however, state that these violations could see Couch spending up to ten years in big-boy jail. They are requesting that the case be moved from juvenile court to adult court after Couch turns 19 in April. The ruling on the request is expected sometime next year.
Couch has also sucked in a family from Kentucky into his drama. Mack Maine, a C-list rapper from Lil Wayneâs entourage, recorded and released a song called âEthan Couch,â which critiques Americaâs court systems with Couch as its primary example. The cover art for the song, however, doesnât feature Ethan Couch, but just a random kid from Kentucky whose parents are now suing the rapper and his record label for âinvasion of privacy, commercial appropriation, defamation, outrageous conduct, unjust enrichment and a violation of trademark law.â
But looking at the glass half full, thatâs one thing that we can say with absolute certainty that Ethan Couch was not responsible for.
Comments