At a bare minimum, I think this kid�s parents should�ve received jail time on top of his "probation" ...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoY1ARr7dp4

Meh, consequences are for serfs!

That's just a straight out disgrace, isn't it?

sooo...keep letting him get away with breaking the law?

In UK the Prosecution can appeal against such a lenient sentence, is there no such thing in America?

Prison or not, unless he has a mystic revelation, you're right, this guy is not over with breaking badly the law and will undoubtly make heard of him for future offenses.

To really express how I feel about this, I'd have to write a lot of horribly torturous desires performed on that kid, the lawyer, the judge and his parents.

I lost someone to a drunk driver 24 years ago and being able to make any kind of sense of that death still alludes me. The irresponsible selfish uncaring driver at least got punished. It wasn't enough. THIS KID? I'd kill him myself if the judge made a mockery of my friend's death with such a disgusting travesty of justice.

I hope the parents lose everything..... down to their last penny.

He can't go to jail, or his parents. The rich need to be free so, hopefully, their moneygrubbing can trickle down on the rest of us. Love those supply siders.

It breaks my heart this happened in Texas.

I know a girl in Dallas who was pulled over for DWI at the end of 2011 and she didn't go to court until 2012 for her arraignment, after it was postponed 7 times.

It was her first DWI offense.

During that entire time she was waiting to be arraigned, she was free to continue drinking and driving.

Then she finally went to court for her trial by judge in 2013 after once again, several postponement of her trial date.

Her punishment?

No jail time. 60 days deferred adjudication!

Talk about ridiculous.

She works as a waitress at a strip club.

To work as a waitress at any establishment that serves alcohol in Texas, you need to be TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.) certified by taking their class for bartenders and servers and then once you pass it, you get your TABC certification occupational license.

She is still working as a waitress.

Even if TABC found out about her DWI arrest and probation, they will not revoked her occupational license and when it comes time to renew it, she will be able to get re-certified.

Many bartenders and waitresses in the night club and strip club industry are alcoholic.

They are constantly drinking almost every time they work.

Do you think they will turn down free drinks from any customers?

It also drives up their alcohol sales number.

This girl I know works 4 nights a week and she drinks every time she works.

She has regulars that goes to the club to find dancers and they will ask for her specifically to be their waitresses.

Then on her days off, she is out drinking.

I see her Twitter and Facebook page showing where she is on her nights off.

Always at a bar or a night club.

Her liver is probably shot by now and she is only 29 and I won't be surprised if she won't live to be 50.

OK, time to weigh in here. And no, I am not a lawyer.

For the record: I wish they could have tried him as an adult, and given him the Big Boy punishment.

I have heard the local discussion on this case, and I can't say that the Judge 'screwed up' as quickly as y'all are.

Why?

Because he is 16.
The law says that if you commit a crime while you are under 18, you will be punished BUT at 18 you are set free from those crimes. New slate, so to speak.

So, the Judge had the option to give him 20 years in prison.
MOST he would have served is 2. If that.

What she DID do is give him 10 YEARS of Probation. AND he has to go to an expensive Rehab center.
Now, from what I heard, the Attorney (Not in Case) said that this is NOT a walk in the park like people think.
Moron Boy will have to check in with his Parole officer 1 time a month, for 10 years. And pee in a cup, while they watch. Pay fines. Be restricted in his movements. Etc.
The attorney says that "Most won't make it"

So, the Judge just whacked this kid's parents for a lot of expenditures.
Moron Boy will lose his privileges until he is 27.
AND if he screws up, he WILL do the full time in prison.

Not ideal, but within the law.
The key here is the laws about MINORS. They can kill people while under 17 (at that age could be tried as Adult) and get off when they turn 18.
Used to be a way to protect KIDS.

Must be a lower order trustfunder to be forced to actually see the inside of a courtroom and have to take this silly defense. Trustfunders from NYC, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Jersey pull this homicidal crap all the time and never see the inside a courtroom. They have corrupt daddy fix everything behind the scenes.

Thanks for the additional perspective Bill Grant. I used to think it was acceptable that people of means could be counted on to make certain their children would behave like civilized people. While realizing no parent can totally guarantee their child's actions would be acceptable, it seems too many just do a payoff. I know personally of one young man who was charged with opium trafficking, and his side of the story is that he was tricked into it. His parents spent tens of thousands of dollars at a high profile rehab center to avoid serious jail time. That and finally realizing the world is serious business, not just a big game, seems to have set him on a more mature course. that would not have happened if he went to jail. No one can bring back the victims of drunk driving and other stupid acts, but saving anyone from a wasted life is better than adding to the victim list.

Oddly enough this same judge didn't apply those same "kid" protections evenly to another kid who wasn't "suffering from being rich":
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/14/politics/affluenza-jenkins-opinion/
"She heard a case last year where a 14-year-old African-American teen punched someone once; the person tragically died two days later. Judge Boyd ruled that the teen could get his services and counseling while sentencing him to Texas juvenile detention with the possibility of adult prison for up to 10 years. That was for one punch."

Read your link.
It says that the Drunk Driver's parents are going to have to pay $450,000 for the Treatment.
Wouldn't happen if she sent him to jail.

I'm sure the 14yr old didn't have rich parents.
And on reading the story, *I* want to slap the author for her resounding bias.
So, if the kid had thrown 3 punches, his jail time would have been justified?
Who cares if he hit the guy 1 time, or 55 times. He killed the man.
And yet CNN and the like call it the "Knockout Game"

Its called assault. The 14yr old INTENTIONALLY hit Mark Gregory, who died from hitting his head on the sidewalk.

Interesting how your argument stops being about the law protecting "kids" from their actions as minors and now instead you focus on what the 14year old did... so which is it? your defense of the judge is the law based on them being kids or you defense of the judge is the actions of the 14 year old kid?

As long as you want to compare their actions that led to the consequences:
14 year old is in a fistfight where a punch lands and one of the people fighting hits their head on sidewalk and dies
- Sentenced to 10 years in Texas juvenile detention with the possibility of adult prison

16 year old drinking and driving in a huge Ford F-350 truck carrying 7 passengers, loses control of it, rolls it and kills 4 innocent people as they tried to fix a disabled car on the road's shoulder also causes one of his passengers to be paralyzed
- Sentenced to 10 years probation and one year of rehab at a comfy private counseling center

Which of the two do you think are more typical of kid actions causing unforeseen accidental death? fistfight where someone hits their head and dies or driving drunk in a one ton truck full of passengers?

Hard to see how people can defend the bias in the ruling by this judge, especially when it is inconsistent with her previous ruling for the 14 year old, maybe things are different in Texas and that type of thing is acceptable.

Not sure about this one.

On top of Bill Grant's "Most won't make it", JacinJax on the CNN comments pointed out how financially devastating this could be for the kid's parents. The truck was a company truck, one of the passengers is supposedly suing also and most probably their insurance won't pay. Anyone would be fuming at the "expensive/luxurious" rehab center, I sure am cause that seems to reinforce the kid's affluenza streak.

However, what I see are (from the posts I've read since I'm no lawyer and especially not an expert at U.S. laws): parents being drained financially and the kid has 10 years to screw up and do the full time prison (10 years according to one article which IMO not enough). Many things can still go wrong for the Couch(es).

A lot are saying that he should have been tried as an adult, one has to wonder how the attempt went cause I doubt the prosecutors overlooked that angle. (Is this the best one could get if he's not tried as an adult?)

First off, I said I wish they had been able to try him as an adult. Full stop. I WANT the punk to be punished accordingly. His actions killed people.
Secondly, I tried to point out that this sentence, while not ideal, will affect both parties (parents and kid) drastically, more than just a 2 year sentence. So it does not seem as shallow as it reads.

As for what I said, it is consistent. The Author referenced is NOT. She felt, based on her words, that the other boy should have had a lighter sentence. "It was only one punch!"

The other boy SET OUT to hurt someone. Not the same, no matter where you live. He and his two buddies were driving around looking for someone to hurt. They did, and it killed their victim.



So, doesn't read the way you stated it... it was not a fistfight, it was an attack.
And also, the 14yr old will PROBABLY be released on his 18th birthday. So he only has to do 4 years for his crime.

Good info on the 14 year old's case, I didn't realize the premeditated part of that assault and that it wasn't exactly a typical fist fight.

I guess from my perspective in this issue I'm focused on the criminal system and just want the judge to apply the laws consistently and hold the criminals accountable for their actions and sentence them consistently, without bias based on who the parents are or the kid's psychiatrist giving the excuse of the kid being just a victim of affluenza (being rich).

From my part I think the 14 year old deserved that sentence but I think the 16 year old deserved a similar sentence, he killed 4 and maimed 1 doing something that we all know by now is very reckless and he had 7 passengers.

As you mention, it sounds like the civil penalties may end up imposing some of the justice that the criminal system failed to do in this case, so we will have to be satisfied with that, and it sounds like this judge will not be running for office next election, but I hope if she does run again that the good people of Texas consider the inconsistency she showed in this case.

My thoughts go out to the family of the innocent people killed or hurt by these idiot kids, I just hope since he's young and being given a lenient sentence, that he takes the opportunity to learn from his mistake and change his life for the better to make up for this. I hope that for both these kids.

Good discussion overall, good info besides the usual asshat media talking points.

In legal jargon, that's called 'Intent'.
The one did not 'intend' to harm anyone during the commission of the crime (drunk driving).
The other did 'intend' to harm someone during the commission of his crime.
I would 'guess'.....not being a legal attorney and all.

Either way......I'd have thrown the key away, for both of them.
When it comes to a death, or serious permanent injury.....all bets are off, IMHO. But the courts don't see it that way.

Just my personal opinion.
I've driven way too many complainants to court, heard their cries, taken their statements, felt their pain, when you become personally involved, you see it differently.
Then the next case, and the next..........and on, and on.

I've lost my 'compassion' for the 'perp', a long, long time ago.