DA seeks jail time for Ethan Couch; more details arise in teen's background

[CatWoman]

FORT WORTH — More information has arisen in the background of 16-year-old Ethan Couch, who was given a controversial probation sentence in a drunken driving crash that killed four in June.

Dating back to 1989, Fred Couch, Ethan's father, shows up 23 times in Johnson County police records. Included in the records are charges of criminal mischief, theft by check and assault. The cases were dismissed.

Tonya Couch, divorced from Ethan's father in 2007, was charged with reckless driving in 2003.

Tuesday, the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office released a statement in which they revealed they are working to put the teen behind bars on two intoxication assault cases from the deadly June crash.

Couch had access to a 4,000-square foot house on Burleson Retta Road. The home, where he often stayed alone, is listed in Tarrant County property records in his mother's name. The house is virtually unfurnished, but was available for him to party, unsupervised.

The accident took place less than a half mile from his home. Couch had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood, as well as Valium.

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/New-Information-Behind-Ethan-Couch-Verdict-236295831.html

[MADem]

1. I think that sentence was reprehensible. I hope they can find a way to adjust it.

A couple of years in "rehab" doesn't cut it. That kid needs to do time, he needs to do meaningful restitution, and he should be the poster boy for drunken assholes, his face plastered on every MADD poster on every bus, subway and train out there.

[HappyMe]

2. Absolutely correct.

Vehicular homicide should have been the charge brought.

[kelliekat44]

3. It seems to me his parents ought to serve some time also...negligent parental homicide...

Ok, so I am making up this charge. But damn!! Folks always want the parents of poor and minority teens to be responsible for whatever their kids do. This family should be damn near broke when all the dust settles from the liability suits. And what kind of insurance company keeps insuring these folks? How easy is it for them to get coverage as opposed to members of the " unerclass?"

[MADem]

4. It may be made up, but I like it.

And I agree with you--they oughta be sued blue, and have to pay, and pay, and pay down the years.

[Mojo Electro]

5. I like it too.

People should be held (at least somewhat) responsible for the spoiled little monsters they let loose on society.

If you have a crazy, ill-behaved dog and you let it run around without a leash and it bites somebody, you are responsible. Well, a rotten, entitled child can do far more damage than a dog.

Had Ethan Couch been raised with any boundaries at all, he likely would not have behaved the way he did. Including (and especially) trying to walk away from the scene of the crash saying "I'm outta here" because he felt so entitled, like the worthless peons he killed didn't matter. He probably thinks "Well it's not like I killed anybody important". Their complete and utter failure as a parents created this little monster and let him loose on the world.

The whole situation smacks of "WE matter... YOU don't matter"

One day the backlash will come, it won't be pretty.

[CatWoman]

7. ...

According to Boyles' attorney, Ethan Couch was caught fleeing on foot about a quarter mile from the accident scene. He could be heard at the scene, the attorney's notes say, yelling to one of his passengers, quote "I'm Ethan Couch, I'll get you out of this."

http://www.khon2.com/news/national-news/new-courtroom-details-emerge-from-affluenza-trial

[CatWoman]

6. more

Couch, 16, loaded on booze and Valium, lost control of his speeding Ford F-350 pickup and smashed into a broken-down car beside a road outside Burleson. The vehicle belonged to the boy's father, Fred, prompting the plaintiffs to include the father and his company Cleburne Metal Works in the civil suits. The firm was founded in 1986, according to an archived version of its website, and offered "high end architectural sheet metal goods for the commercial, industrial and institutional construction industries."

A separate online profile pegged their income at upwards of $10 million each year.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woes-texas-affluenza-boy-article-1.1550043#ixzz2nqp7T4gx