

Rich kid's successful defense in DUI deaths:'Affluenza' - RokStdy
http://jacksonville.com/breaking-news/2013-12-11/story/affluenza-defense-works-rich-teen-gets-probation-after-killing-4

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tokenadult
This is a consequence of the significantly different treatment defendants
receive if they are classified as "juveniles" (that is, not adults). Yes,
drunken driving that results in the deaths of pedestrians is usually a
criminal offense, all over the world. However, in many places, and for sure in
every state of the United States, a minor who commits a criminal act will not
be put on trial in the adult court system, but rather in a special juvenile
court with different rules and different outcomes for a case. The usual
outcome of a juvenile court case is court supervision to try to help the
juvenile grow up to be an adult who won't commit crimes. That is the
disposition that was ordered in this case.

Because of the severity of the charged offense, the prosecutors in this case
asked for, and apparently were within the scope of juvenile court rules to ask
for, hard prison time if the juvenile defendant was found delinquent. But,
yes, in this case the defense lawyers, who were no doubt expensive specialist
defense lawyers, came up with a defense that convinced the judge to order a
less harsh disposition for the case. A news report I saw[1] included this
report about what a defense lawyer said after the case decision:

"'There is nothing the judge could have done to lessen the suffering for any
of those families,' said defense attorney Scott Brown, CNN affiliate KTVT
reported.

'(The judge) fashioned a sentence that is going to keep Ethan under the thumb
of the justice system for the next 10 years,' he said. 'And if Ethan doesn't
do what he's supposed to do, if he has one misstep at all, then this judge, or
an adult judge when he's transferred, can then incarcerate him.'"

So it could be that the boy will still do prison time (which I personally
think would be more just than the treatment disposition he has received so
far). Some of the facts in another report about the case[2] are really stark.
This boy was a disaster waiting to happen in his earlier behavior, and his
parents appeared not to do much about that. That's just wrong. But the
prosecutors had their one chance at trial to ask for a tougher sentence on the
boy, and the trial court decision now cannot be undone to allow them to ask
for a second trial to get tougher punishment. Nor can the parents be tried for
anything under usual principles of United States law in this case.

[1] [http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/11/us/texas-teen-dwi-
wreck/](http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/11/us/texas-teen-dwi-wreck/)

[2] [http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Defense-pushes-for-
intensive-...](http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/Defense-pushes-for-intensive-
therapy-for-teen-in-drunken-crash-that-killed-4-235288101.html)

~~~
RokStdy
Thank you for the added context. Sadly, it appears that DUI is treated rather
lightly in Florida, it's not just in cases of juveniles. For example:
[1]Person driving with BAC greater than twice the legal limit kills a
pedestrian. They got 1 year house arrest and then probation.
[1][http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/pedestrian-
deaths-...](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/pedestrian-deaths-
central-florida/os-pedestrian-vignette-stout-20130703,0,7342662.story)

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krajzeg
His therapy is already off to a great start - the judge letting him suffer
virtually no consequences for quadruple manslaughter will surely convince him
that the belief that he can get away with anything is misguided.

~~~
FireBeyond
To be taken with a grain of salt, but I read some local newspaper comments,
including some from people who know the family/business state that not only
that, but the level of remorse shown was approaching zero. Or to quote the
commenter I read, "His IDGAF levels were pretty high. He still posts on
Facebook about partying and drinking, it's just much more locked down privacy-
wise".

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cookingrobot
It will be interesting to see the civil suits. The parents apparently argued
that their son had no sense of personal accountability because they'd always
given him anything he wanted and never told him no. When damages start being
calculated for the victims and their families, there's a pretty good argument
that it's not safe to leave the parents with any money.

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gojomo
My thoughts were similar: if the parenting is assigned most of the blame,
maybe the parents should be serving the jail term? (I'd hate that as a general
precedent – even good parents can yield a criminal child – but if in this case
the parents have effectively embraced that culpability...)

Perhaps civil suits, leveraging the criminal case argumentation, can
approximate that outcome.

~~~
cookingrobot
I'd love that as a general precedent. Either the kid is tried as an adult, or
the parents are tried in their place. It should be the parents' job to protect
society from their children.

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RokStdy
More Detail: [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/gone-
viral/os-...](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/blogs/gone-viral/os-
rich-teen-dui-probation-12112013,0,1975251.post)

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beedogs
There's basically a separate system of justice in most countries for anyone
with a net worth of 8 figures or more. He literally got away with murder.

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alfiejohn_
This reminds me of:

    
    
      http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/laura.asp

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pliny
Is there any doubt the judge was paid off? No sane person could make an
argument that a serial criminal, a __serial killer __, should not face
consequences for his actions because he didn 't face any in the past.

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Pinckney
>a serial killer

He's merely a parallel killer.

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knodi
If he was black he would spent 2 years in juvi then shipped off to life in
prison.

How can a community go on after this.

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xacaxulu
Alright proletarians, back to work. Nothing to see here. And file your taxes
on time this year!!

