"Affluenza" Saves Killer Teen, Cripples Judge

“Affluenza” Saves Killer Teen, Cripples Judge

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
December 18, 2013

Texans like bragging about how things are always bigger in the Lone Star State. Well in the category of jurisprudence, none has been bigger than the crime committed by Ethan Couch coupled with the gigantic miscue by Juvenile Judge Jean Hudson Boyd.

In what has to be the obscenity of the year, Couch, 16, went joyriding in Burleson, TX on June 15 – drunk as a skunk, and slaughtered four innocent people. What is even more outrageous is that the judge declined to sentence this miscreant to 20 years in jail, but instead sentenced him to 10 years’ probation while allowing him to enter rehab.

Couch, of Keller, TX, received a defense that labeled him the product of “affluenza,” a term defined as “a sense of wealthy entitlement the boy could not discern right from wrong,” which sadly, Boyd swallowed, hook, line, and stinker.

Couch, who has been living alone in a mansion provided by his parents, Fred, 48, and Tonya, 46, divorced, had a prior run in with the law at age 14, while his parents have had numerous brushes with the law, none ending with any terms behind bars. The parents apparently do not discipline this child who lives his life of privilege sans supervision, morality, or a conscience.

Couch, drinking underage, blew a .24 on the breathalyzer, three times the legal limit, as well as under the influence of Valium, was driving his Ford F-350 pickup truck with passengers Sergio Molina and Soliman Mohmund, both 16.

Couch was clocked speeding at 70 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone when he plowed into, and slaughtered Pastor Brian Jennings, 41, Hollie Boyles, 52, Shelby Boyles, 21, and Breanna Mitchell, 24. Four innocent lives snuffed out by an irresponsible teenager who should have known better, and should be rotting in a prison cell with none of the privileges his family wealth will afford him at a virtual country club rehab center.

Make no mistake, Couch should receive rehabilitation, but it should be while serving a concomitant prison sentence, and paid for by his parents. After all, they will be shelling out $450,000 a year for their son to vacation at the Newport Academy in Newport Beach, CA.

In fact, if Couch is deemed a non-violent offender, he should work with the homeless, the less fortunate, and in poor schools, a la work release with him returning to prison at night. He needs to experience the reality of life lived by those not of privilege. He needs sobering exposure to life’s daily trials and tribulations, many of which neither have happy endings nor are resolved because of poverty.

Why Judge Boyd did not include this in the sentencing of Couch to his cushy-tushy rehab facility is incomprehensible. Also, the notion of probation requiring Couch to be on the straight and narrow or he could face future prison time is disingenuous without the above suggested conditions as well as allowing him residence in a Club Med-style rehab facility.

As an elected member of the judicial branch in Texas, Boyd would unlikely face firing from Governor Rick Perry (R), but there is an on-line petition for removal which can be found at www.change.org. I have signed this petition for removal. Boyd, also a Republican, is heading into the final year of her current four-year term, and is considered likely for retirement. Nevertheless, she should face recall from the voters in Tarrant County where she has served as a juvenile judge in the 323^rd Judicial District since 1995.

Boyd won election in 1994 with 62.5 percent of the vote, followed by reelection in 1998 with 61.7 percent of the vote. In the elections of 2002, 2006, and most recently 2010, Boyd ran uncontested in the heavily GOP county. Boyd earned her undergraduate degree at Texas Tech, followed by her JD at South Texas College of Law.

Boyd should be ashamed of her sentence handed down to Couch and will long be remembered for it instead of any decisions made of a more appropriate nature. Additionally, civil suits should be filed by the families of the four victims against Couch and his parents who should bear more than just a small amount of responsibility for their son’s recalcitrant behavior. Suits should also be launched by Couch’s passengers Mohmund and Molina, who is currently paralyzed.

Sign the on-line petition to relieve Boyd of her judicial duties. Contact her at her office – politely, to express your outrage at this weak-kneed sentence. Her office phone number is 817-838-4600. The address is Scott D. Moore Juvenile Justice Center, 2701 Kimbo Road, Fort Worth, TX 76111.

To contact the Newport Academy, call 866-382-6651. They will not release the address until after receiving initial intake information pertaining to a potential patient.

Both Boyd and Couch should be flooded with calls, letters, etc. from as many people as possible expressing consternation about the horrific crime committed by a soulless reprobate and an equally careless sentence issued by a judge who clearly has seen her best days on the bench pass her by.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.