What’s more important than possible jail time for Ethan ‘Affluenza’ Couch
FORT WORTH -- WFAA (Channel 8) broke the news last night that the Tarrant County DA filed a motion Tuesday that would move drunken driver Ethan Couch, who at age 16 ran over and killed four people, from the juvenile court system to adult court. With Couch turning 19 in April, his probation in the juvenile justice center will expire. The transfer means that a district judge in adult court could impose consequences — including prison — for any probation violations.
This is the right thing for the DA to do.
You probably recall that Couch, the son of a rich couple and whose attorney claimed suffered from “affluenza,” was sentenced to nothing more than expensive rehabilitation centers and 10 years of probation — with no juvenile jail time. On behalf of Couch, psychologist Dr. G. Dick Miller testified in the original trial about Ethan’s upbringing and lack of consequences; that’s where the term “affluenza” originated in this case. In depositions, Miller said the parents’ behavior “strongly enabled” Ethan’s deadly accident.
Now Couch will spend the last part of that probation in the adult system, assuming a juvenile court judge — not the one who initially sentenced him — agrees with the DA’s request.
Read more: http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2015/11/whats-more-important-than-possible-jail-time-for-ethan-affluenza-couch.html/