Ethan Couch

Eighteen year old, Texas native, Ethan Couch was sentenced to ten years’ probation, after drunk driving and killing four people, and ordered to stay away from driving, drugs, and alcohol. However, in late 2015, after a violation of his probation, Ethan and his mother escaped from the country unexpectedly.

On December 28th, 2015, Couch and his mother were found in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Tonya Couch returned to the United States and was arrested for hindering apprehension of a felon. Her $1 million bail was reduced to 75,000 when she returned to Tarrant County. She was released from jail on January 12th. Meanwhile, Ethan Couch, after being found in Mexico, was deported to a detention facility in Mexico City after winning a delay in his deportation.

This occurred even after a violation of his probation, when there was a post on Twitter that meant that Couch may have been violating his probation. This was shown by a video of people playing beer pong at a party, and one of them may have been Couch. This was a direct violation of the probation due to the alcohol consumption. According to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, the consequences for this violation could have been resentencing, which would be a maximum of ten years in prison.

“Due to of his upbringing, he doesn't think of the consequences. Since he was never punished, this makes him think that it's okay to break the rules. That is definitely not right,” NHS sophomore Elizabeth Weisgerber said.

A main cause of this violation, as well as the drunk driving accident itself was testified in court by Psychologist G. Dick Miller as the term “affluenza”. This implies that he was not able to understand the consequences of his actions because he was always taught that his wealth was linked with privilege.

“I don't think the term ‘affluenza’ would be valid in this instance because everyone should be responsible for their own actions regardless of their upbringing,” NHS sophomore Melissa Nowak said.

When the case was taken to court, initially, a maximum of twenty years in prison were sought out for by Tarrant County prosecutors. Instead, Couch was sent to a state-owned in-patient mental health facility, North Texas State Hospital. While he was there, he was sentenced to ten years’ probation and was ordered to stay away from drugs, alcohol, and driving. To pay for this treatment, Couch’s parents, Fred and Tonya Couch, were ordered to pay $1,170 per month. The case was greatly debated, and the lightness of his sentence was looked down upon by one or more of the victims’ families.

As a result, five civil lawsuits were filed between September and November, 2013 by four of the victims and two passengers due to the lightness of Couch’s consequences. The additional lawsuit was filed in December 2013, specifically by the parents of a son who was in the back of Couch’s truck and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

These families were not only angered by the fact that their loved ones are no longer with them, but they were also angered by the lightness of Couch’s consequences, even after it was found that he was intoxicated three times past the legal blood alcohol content.

Now the rest of the world is left to wonder if this is how the future will be from now on, and if there are many other people in the world who are just like this and will make irrational decisions and get away with them without consequences.

Image Courtesy of nydailynews.com