Ethan Couch Arrested in Mexico / Creative Commons
By Matthew A. McIntosh / 04.13.2016
Ethan Couch, who was driving drunk as a teenager and caused the deaths of four people, appeared in court today to face the music for a probation violation following video of him obviously at a party involving alcohol and fleeing to Mexico with his mother.
Texas Judge Wayne Salvant, only able to sentence Couch for the probation violation – now as an adult – as the initial case was already adjudicated with a 10-year probation, handed down a sentence of 720 days, one 180-day sentence for each of the victims who lost their lives due to his actions.
Rich boy was able to get a light sentence for intoxication manslaughter in the first place, and now he’ll really only serve a year to a year-and-a-half of this sentence.
A person convicted of a third DWI offense in Texas is charged with a third-degree felony and can be sentenced 2-10 years without having killed anyone, but Couch got the same equivalent sentence for the deaths of four people at his hands.
Some sources are calling this “sweet karma” and “justice”, and I couldn’t disagree more. Karma would be something else entirely, and justice is not remotely applicable to this second slap on the wrist.
Lucky for Couch, he is a young, rich, white kid in America – the deck was stacked in his favor.