Ever heard of Ethan Couch?
Ethan Couch
Born April 11th, 1997
Known for The “affluenza” defense
Criminal charge Intoxication manslaughter
Penalty Initially 10 years’ probation.
Date June 15, 2013
Killed 4 Injured 9
Ethan Anthony Couch (born April 11, 1997) is an American man who at age 16 killed four people while driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs on June 15, 2013, in Burleson, Texas.
He was intoxicated, driving on a restricted license and speeding in a residential area when he lost control, colliding with a group of people assisting another driver with a disabled SUV.
Four people were killed in the collision and a total of nine people were injured.
Two passengers in Couch’s truck suffered serious bodily injury, one with complete paralysis.
Couch was indicted on four counts of intoxication manslaughter for recklessly driving under the influence.
In December 2013, Judge Jean Hudson Boyd sentenced Couch to ten years of probation and subsequently ordered him to therapy at a long-term in-patient facility, after his attorneys argued that the teen had “affluenza” and needed rehabilitation instead of prison, saying that he didn’t know boundaries because his rich parents didn’t give him any.
Couch’s sentence, believed by many to be incredibly lenient, set off an emotional, angry debate that has stretched far beyond the North Texas suburbs.
Couch became the subject of a manhunt and was listed in the National Fugitive Database on December 11, 2015, after his probation officer was unable to contact him.
On December 28, 2015, authorities detained Couch and his mother in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco. On April 13, 2016, he was sentenced to serve two years in prison.