# Ethan Couch - 10 years probation for killing 4 while drunk driving

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethan-couch-10-years-probation-for-killing-4-while-drunk-driving/676214>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 13, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethan-couch-10-years-probation-for-killing-4-while-drunk-driving/676214 "2013-12-13T02:00:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethan-couch-10-years-probation-for-killing-4-while-drunk-driving/676214/1 "2013-12-13T02:00:37Z")

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> **[Texas teen Ethan Couch gets 10 years' probation for driving drunk, killing 4...](https://www.cnn.com/2013/12/11/us/texas-teen-dwi-wreck/)**
>
> A judge has sentenced a teen in Texas to 10 years’ probation for driving drunk and causing a crash that left two people severely injured and four others dead.

Title describes the scenario. A rich Texan 16 year old, Ethan Couch, went drunk driving and killed 4 people. The defense plea was that he has been coddled all his life and didn’t know his actions had consequences. The judge agreed and instead of jail the teen will be on probation for 10 years, doing a mandatory rehab in a facility us average joes couldn’t afford a week’s vacation at.

I’m trying to figure out why a flash mob shouldn’t get together, overwhelm the police, and pull this kid apart limb from limb, along with the judge, and the parents.

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethan-couch-10-years-probation-for-killing-4-while-drunk-driving/676214/2 "2013-12-13T02:15:42Z")

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There is already a thread:

> **[Judge Lets Killer Drunk Driver Off Because He's Spoiled](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=710218)**
>
> The facts of the case are straightforward enough: How could this be, you may ask? What ingenious legal gambit led to this amazing result? Well, it’s simple. The defense lawyers convinced the judge that the poor boy was simply too spoiled to be...

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethan-couch-10-years-probation-for-killing-4-while-drunk-driving/676214/3 "2013-12-13T12:44:21Z")

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It seems darned unlikely to me that any discussion of this would evolve without becoming Pitworthy, so I’m going to close this, since the Pit thread already exists.