# Judge Lets Killer Drunk Driver Off Because He's Spoiled **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 12, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119 "2013-12-12T00:00:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/201 "2015-12-30T21:40:09Z")
> [@Klaatu](#): > > i will shut up No need for you to shut up. When come back bring actual computer, so you can write in complete sentences (and words). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/202 "2015-12-30T22:24:02Z")
> [@Klaatu](#): > > and likely gettin his ass kikked Is that the same as getting his ass jewed? Because if it is, I have no idea what it means. ---
**Author:** ![lalaith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@lalaith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalaith)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/203 "2015-12-30T22:35:29Z")
> [@Klaatu](#): > > mama could do more time You know, I could actually accept that. According to the first trial, it was her fault and the fault of the father for how they raised him. So since he’s only going to get a few months in jail, I could live with it if the mother gets the full 10 years. (Probably better for Ethan Couch if his mother is kept away from him anyway.) Besides the sheriff’s convinced that if Ethan Couch’s probation gets transferred to the adult system he’ll mess up. And from the way he’s been going, I think the sheriff’s correct. This guy has not woken up enough to change his ways. Obviously killing four innocent people wasn’t hitting bottom for him as he basically escaped the consequences for it. So, since he hasn’t changed, he’ll break his probation again. And then he can be sent to prison. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/204 "2015-12-31T15:56:30Z")
It looks like they were caught because they used a cell phone to [call Domino’s](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/12/30/how-a-dominos-pizza-order-helped-lead-to-the-capture-of-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch/). :smack: All that money and no brains. It is nice that this little Mexican vacation will hopefully put the mother in jail for a while and will make the next inevitable screw up for him more serious. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/205 "2016-01-01T01:28:42Z")
I had to share [this take on things from VICE: > [@](#): > > Carrot Top impersonator and world’s worst mom Tonya Couch, who helped her son Ethan flee to Mexico, has been deported and brought through Los Angeles International Airport in handcuffs. Ethan will likely remain in Mexico for several weeks, after hiring a lawyer in the country to help fight extradition. ]([http://www.vice.com/read/the-vice-morning-bulletin-12-31-15](http://www.vice.com/read/the-vice-morning-bulletin-12-31-15))Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! That story contains [a link to a story on Mediate.com with a split pic comparison of the Mrs. Couch and Mr. Top](http://www.mediaite.com/online/affluenza-mom-tonya-couch-or-comedian-carrot-top-twitter-wants-to-know/) and sure enough, they could almost be the same person! ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/206 "2016-01-02T19:57:59Z")
I wonder if this was actually a fiendishly clever strategy on the part of Couch’s parents. Assume for a moment that Mom and Pop Couch are willing to do whatever they can to make Ethan’s life as consequence-free as possible, including going to jail themselves to prevent him from doing so. Once Ethan fucked up by getting his picture taken at a party, if they had good enough legal advice would it not have made sense for Mom or Pop to grab the kid up and try to evade capture for as long as possible up to his 19th birthday? It sounds as though the worst that can happen for Ethan, legally, is to sit in jail until he turns 19. Every day that they are on the lam is one less potential day in jail for him; if they can make it to his birthday then there is no possible jail time anymore, right? He can get shifted over to adult court and his probation extended, I guess, with more serious consequences for future violations, but he can’t be held past his 19th birthday for the current probation violation or flight as I understand things. Of course the kid is a fuckup so you’ll have to send one parent with him to keep an eye on him while he’s on the lam; that person will get in trouble and spend time in the pokey, so the best choice to draw that duty is probably mom because she a) probably would get a lighter sentence than dad and b) probably is more expendable, family-income-wise. Once Ethan turns 19, his parents will have to resort to killing witnesses and buying judges to offer him this kind of assistance. I don’t know why, but I guess I prefer to think that this was a smart play by a couple of sociopathic parents coolly gaming the system rather than a couple of dumbshits who really lucked out, legal-loophole-wise. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/207 "2016-01-02T21:01:34Z")
Whereas I’m pretty sure they’re just not very bright. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/208 "2016-01-02T21:24:10Z")
He’ll just plead ignorance of Mexico not being part of the USA. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/209 "2016-01-02T21:41:38Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Is that the same as getting his ass jewed? Because if it is, I have no idea what it means. If it has anything to do with a Jewish mother you know it has to be bad… ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/210 "2016-01-02T22:14:18Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! This is what happens, people, when youngsters don’t receive proper repercussions for their actions. Don’t let your kids grow up without consequences like this poor child. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/211 "2016-01-02T22:26:12Z")
It’s the discussion-forum equivalent of spray-painting graffiti on a nice building – a pointless act of vandalism that for some reason makes the loser doing the vandalizing feel better about his miserable existence. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/212 "2016-01-03T04:06:08Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > He’ll just plead ignorance of Mexico not being part of the USA. New Mexico is part of the USA… ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/213 "2016-01-03T05:27:42Z")
There are 2 Mexicos now? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/214 "2016-01-03T05:32:53Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > There are 2 Mexicos now? When Trump gets his wall built, there will be just one. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/215 "2016-01-03T06:33:37Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > Every day that they are on the lam is one less potential day in jail for him; if they can make it to his birthday then there is no possible jail time anymore, right? He can get shifted over to adult court and his probation extended, I guess, with more serious consequences for future violations, but he can’t be held past his 19th birthday for the current probation violation or flight as I understand things. Please someone tell me that this is not true? ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/216 "2016-01-03T06:48:10Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Please someone tell me that this is not true? With expressions such as “…right?” “I guess” and “…as I understand things,” I doubt his post was very accurate. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/217 "2016-01-03T16:14:50Z")
Lest you think I was just making that stuff up… [Couch is currently an adult being overseen by the juvenile justice system.](http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2015/12/authorities-to-release-details-on-ethan-couchs-capture-at-10-a-m-news-conference-in-tarrant-county.html/) [DA says that as a juvenile court case, the maximum penalty would be imprisonment until his 19th birthday](http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/12/29/a-different-look-for-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-in-mexico/) Look, I think the guy and his parents are real shitheels, but if they are acting to exploit a loophole of some sort in the Texas penal code, then that’s on the legislature of the state of Texas, not them. Well, yes, it’s on them too, but we all would love to be able to exploit a legal loophole to our own advantage, wouldn’t we? ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/218 "2016-01-03T18:34:26Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > [DA says that as a juvenile court case, the maximum penalty would be imprisonment until his 19th birthday](http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2015/12/29/a-different-look-for-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-in-mexico/) The law can’t possibly be written that stupidly, can it? So if he did this the day before he turned 19, he’d get a day in jail, but if he didn’t at 16 he could get up to 3 years? ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/219 "2016-01-04T01:49:59Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > The law can’t possibly be written that stupidly, can it? Welcome to Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/judge-lets-killer-drunk-driver-off-because-hes-spoiled/676119/220 "2016-01-04T01:56:12Z")
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