Basically a 16 year old who was driving his fathers company truck was drunk, with a BAC of .24 3 hours after the wreck, killed 4 people, Paralyzed one and injured one and he got 10 years probation so long as his parents send him to a 450k dollar rehab program. He had been in trouble before for drunk driving, and his parents got him off.
What happened? Did the Judge get paid off? Favors?
A total travesty of the “justice” system.
The next people on trial should be this kid’s messed up parents.
I wouldn’t be suprised to see a civil suit against the parents. As some have pointed out elsewhere it’s highly unlikely that a poor kid with the average public defender would get a sentence anywhere near like this. Such a bad situation for the familes of the victims.
I hoped the parents get wiped out by civil suits. That judge is a moron.
The parents probably will have to pay a very high price when the civil suits are over. The burden of proof is much lower in civil cases than in it is in criminal cases, and juries will–hopefully–be influenced by the severe injuries that his victims sustained. The government (us) should not have to pay for the lifetime care of those he injured, and instead, his parents should have to pay the lifetime medical costs for those who he injured, as well as the loss of earnings for those victims.
Financially breaking the family might be a more fitting punishment than jail time. What’s that verse about “inheriting the whirlwind.”
It’s Texas.
Here in Florida, we had someone do pretty much the exact same thing (drive drunk and run over people who were pulled over on the side of the road). Her family thought their money would keep her out of prison, but she is serving prison time. She keeps applying for early release, but the family of the victim keeps making the trek to the prison every time she does.
That goes to show that a just legal system does not exist,people sometimes get off scottfree when under the influence of “legal” drugs and they will get the book thrown at them for a few grams of marijuana(no harm caused) but dont get me wrong if people test dirty on a drug screen(obivious intoxication) then they shouldnt be suprised if they lose their livelihood.
People were injured and lives were lost by the action of this Young Man and as tragic as it was He must bear the consequences(or should) of His actions,blame the parents for spoiling Him,but keep in mind He was a freeagent and HE chose to do what He did.
I’ve been around Folks who think that they had an excuse when things went bad,while intoxicated.“but I was drunk”,simply no excuse at all really.They chose to be drunk and the bad thing was it took me awhile to growup and get out of that mindset, another tradgedy is ,the spoiled brat may learn nothing about the value of other peoples lives and the the destruction of Family structure and the misery he caused-Kevin
Some 20+ years ago in Nashua NH a father riding his motorcycle with his 12yo daughter riding on the back - pulled over to the break-down lane to put on his helmet before he crossed into MA. Just then a drunk came along and plowed into the motorcycle killing the 12yo girl.
This was the THIRD (yes THIRD) time this driver had killed someone while drunk. The first 2 happened in his home town of Andover MA where his father was police chief. He was driving without a license…and this was at least his 12th dui. FINALLY he was sent to prison for 20 years, but was out in less then 10.
My thoughts on breaking the family was that doing so would be a “life” sentence, so to speak. The young man would find himself facing a future without the benefit of a wealthy and indulging father and mother. And those parents would find themselves in a much less prominent position financially for quite some time.
His excuse wasn’t that he was intoxicated, his lawyers and the Psychologist they bought argued the he suffered from “affluenza”, a disease caused by being too rich. They sold that load of crap to the judge. The prosecutor should have pulled out the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition: DSM-5” by the American Psychiatric Association, the recognized authority on mental illness and if it isn’t listed there, its not valid.
My god, '‘affluenza’ should NOT have been the reason he got off…although it’s the reason he did it.
AND it now better be the reason he does NOT get a license in the future without proving his repaired mental ability.
‘‘afflueza’’ …IF ever defined as a true condition…would the be classified as a mental illness…
and need therefore to be CURED !
( and NOW you can bet there will be heated debate to produce a definition and treatment both on the psyc side and the automotive side PLUS all the legal ramifications from that condition in other problem ares. This is going to start a loooonnnnng new area of defense, cause, and excuses )
I don’t think anyone should take this article at face value. We’re all assuming he got off with a light sentence because of his parents’ money (affluenza), but that may or may not be the case.
I once worked with a woman who got busted for embezzling from her place of work. She had falsified signatures on reimbursements for travel she never took and for purchases she never made, stealing about $91,000 from taxpayers over the course of her time at that job (several years). I had already left that employer by the time this happened, so I googled her name and came up with three different news sources. According to one source, an unnamed whistle-blower reported her (probably the truth). According to another source, she got caught because of a routine audit (probably what management told the press). The third news source didn’t mention how she got caught.
My point is that only the judge knows why he ruled the way he did, and even if this was a fact and not an opinion we were discussing, I wouldn’t trust a single media source to get this right.
It was on the Today Show as well.
How can I catch this…Affluenza? Thats what I want to know…
Its just a sign of the times, being spoiled and having too much money is a valid defense. This country is in bad shape, it has been for a long time, after all remember Ted Kennedy little “accident”.
I guess things don’t change, at least she was actually riding with the goof, this brat killed 4 totally uninvolved people.
I agree with ken; it IS a mental disorder; just look at some of the actors from Hollywood or pro athletes.
Being as judges are elected one could wonder how campaign donations could effect individual cases.
This is undeniably a travesty.
There is a huge prison population of innocents either not guilty or are plead guilty by convenience because they could not afford the same justice system. Both situations are shameful.
But, until some politicians themselves who are indirectly responsible for our justice system, it’s financing and appointments, actually go to jail for some of the illegal things they do, the wealthy won’t either and the poor will continue to be imprisoned instead.
Many years ago, a casual friend with whom I’ve lost touch was on his motorcycle and was rammed head on by a visiting U.S. Attorney who was plastered while driving a black Lincoln at night with no lights on after leaving the country club.
The Fed could barely stand up but was coherent enough to refuse breath and blood tests, refused to surrender his drivers license, and basically claimed “Diplomatic Immunity”. He was not arrested nor was any bail placed on him. State law stated that if alcohol was involved and a driver did not consent to testing they were subject to arrest and suspension of their license.
The 2 passengers in the vehicle were brothers who owned the local newspaper and starting the next day they ran daily editorials for months about how that poor U.S. Attorney was having his reputation tarnished and the populace was “acting like a lynch mob in the Old West”.
The friend spent a long time in the hospital and had a ton of medical bills. Eventually this was settled out of court but due to non-disclosure it’s unknown to me who footed the bill; insurance or the taxpayers. Probably the latter because (paraphrased), “I’m on duty 24 hours a day and you guys (local cops) have no authority over me”.