A Texas teenager killed four people while driving drunk. His attorney chose an unusual defense to keep him out of prison.
He got drunk then jumped behind the wheel of his pickup truck and plowed down four people in a drunken haze. So why isn't Ethan Couch behind bars? Keep in mind he's just 16, too young to legally drive with any alcohol in his system. In this case, his blood alcohol measured point 2-4. Three times the legal limit in Texas. Eric Boyles' wife and daughter were both killed:
"We had over 180 years of life taken, future life, not 180 years lived, but 180 years of future life taken and two of those were my wife and daughter," said Boyles.
Investigators say surveillance tape shows Couch and his friends stealing beer from a
Walmart store in June. Then they got drunk at a party. Leaving there, police say Couch gunned his pickup going nearly 70 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone.
Just about 400 yards down the street, he slammed into Holly and Shelby Boyles, who had stopped to help Breanna Mitchell fix a flat tire. Youth pastor Brian Jennings was driving by and had also stopped to help.
All of them were killed.
In one of the most bizarre defense strategies we've ever heard of,
Couch's attorneys blamed the boy's parents for his behavior that night. All because of how they raised him. A psychologist - and defense witness - testified Couch was a product of something he called "affluenza." A lifestyle where wealth brought privilege and there were no consequences for bad behavior.
That psychologist cited one instance when Couch, then 15, was caught in a parked pickup with a naked, 14 year old girl who was passed out. Couch was never punished, the psychologist said. He also testified the teenager was allowed to drink at a very young age, and even began driving at just 13.
Prosecutors fought for a 20-year sentence. But the defense argued Couch needed treatment, not prison.
The judge agreed and gave Couch 10-years probation plus time in alcohol rehab. No prison. She told the court she believes Couch can be rehabilitated if he's away from his family and given the right treatment.
He'll likely end up at this pricey rehab center in Newport Beach California. His father has agreed to pay the half-a-million dollars or so it will cost.
