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2015/12/30 23:15:39
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Talizvar wrote: In Canada criminal code section 255 sub-section 3:
Any "Impaired Driving Causing Death" = "life imprisonment".
No, that isn't what it says. The phrase "liable to imprisonment for life." means that a given individual may, if convicted, may be subject to life imprisonment. It does not mean that they must be subject to life imprisonment.
Which makes more sense as impairment might not be the fault of the driver. eg spiked drinks.
Could mean many things, heart attack, fit, maybe it only takes a few seconds.
Voluntary and involuntary impairment are a huge difference
It's bad but if you cannot help the cause, then obviously you don,t deserve jail time. Ie heart attack, you cannot see that coming.
Heart attack wouldn't count as driving while impaired. You were driving then you got impaired. Heart attacks are open and shut cases, even if they cause horrific accidents. Its just a random accident. Spiked drinks however are a grey area, because you can be driving under the influence, yet be unaware you are bresking the law if the subsance hasn't kicked in yet, and/or you dont know you have taken anything you didn't intentionally imbibe.
Side effects from newly supplied legal medication is another such area, and it why people on new drugs are recommended not to drive until they know hoe it effects them, though in most cases there is no law against taking medication and driving.
Grey Templar wrote: I doubt it'll be a wrist slap again. It would be very very tough to justify being lenient with someone who fled the country.
A combination of public outcry, resentencing and skipping the country means in my opinion ouch is likely to get maximum time for both the re-sentenced DUI and another ten years plus on top for trying to flee the country. As he is a flight risk that means no bail and automatic entry into state maximum security if sentenced. All told Couch is now likely looking at 16-22 years in supermax. Well thats my prediction anyway.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
2015/12/30 23:22:48
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Grey Templar wrote: I doubt it'll be a wrist slap again. It would be very very tough to justify being lenient with someone who fled the country.
This part of the article I linked has me a bit concerned it might be just a wrist slap:
"After Couch's latest escapade, Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said she planned to ask a judge to transfer his case to adult court at a scheduled Jan. 19 probation violation hearing.
Couch would then face up to 120 days in an adult jail, followed by 10 years' probation. If he violates probation, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death, Wilson said.
If the judge declines to transfer Couch to adult court, Wilson will ask that his probation be revoked, in which case he could be held in a juvenile facility until his sentence expires when he turns 19 next April.
Anderson said an arrest warrant was being issued for Tonya Couch on charges of hindering an apprehension, a third-degree felony that carries a sentence of two to 10 years in prison."
2015/12/31 00:07:26
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
I think no leniency is a gimme at this point. He probably won't even be granted bail since he's clearly a flight risk.
Edit: Sorry, I somehow missed that Orlanth already said almost exactly what I just said.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/31 00:08:32
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2015/12/31 00:19:38
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Given they fled the country, id expect the courts to be fairly strict on them to send a message.
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
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I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
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2015/12/31 01:54:26
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
• Ethan Couch, 18, received a slap-on-the-wrist probation term for killing four people in a drunk driving accident
• He fled with his mother, Tonya Couch, to Mexico after a video surfaced on Twitter showing him allegedly playing beer pong, violating probation
• Ethan is currently sitting in a jail fighting efforts to extradite him to Texas
• Tonya Couch was returned to Texas Thursday to face a charge of helping her son to evade capture
• She was advised of the charge at a court hearing Friday morning by Tarrant County Judge Wayne Salvant
• Her bond is $1million and her attorney has requested for it to be reduced to $15,000 arguing that 'the amount of bail set is unreasonable'
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson, who was in the courtroom Friday with several sheriff’s deputies, said that Couch complained about her stay in the jail, according to The Dallas Morning News.
Anderson said that she didn't sleep much.
'I explained to her that this was a jail, not a resort,” Anderson told reporters.
2016/01/08 18:38:10
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
They even called a psychologist who testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, suffered from "affluenza" -- meaning he was a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him.
2016/01/08 20:23:33
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Why are the best articles about this story coming from the Daily Mail, by the way?
Oddly daily mail covers alot of things, and oddly well at times. Yet despite being rather biased in other areas.
Sgt. Vanden - OOC Hey, that was your doing. I didn't choose to fly in the "Dongerprise'.
"May the odds be ever in your favour"
Hybrid Son Of Oxayotl wrote:
I have no clue how Dakka's moderation work. I expect it involves throwing a lot of d100 and looking at many random tables.
FudgeDumper - It could be that you are just so uncomfortable with the idea of your chapters primarch having his way with a docile tyranid spore cyst, that you must deny they have any feelings at all.
2016/01/09 07:30:02
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
So are bails like set amounts? I feel like cases like this would be easier handled if they made the bond a % of their net worth and scale that with the severity, with a set minimum amount if needed of course. Cause $15k is nothing to some people and that shouldn't allow them to do whatever they feel like doing.
I agree a lot with that really, but I figured bail would be for more minor things and to save space for the even worse people... Fact is they shouldn't even be given bail in the first place for this.
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From what I know, Bail is set according to the severity of the crime and the flight risk. Given that she is a proven flight risk I am surprised she was given bail at all.
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AlmightyWalrus wrote: Another idea could be to not let people get out of jail just because they have money. Crazy, for sure.
The US constitution prohibits setting excessive bails. There was no reason to deny him bail initially. Denying bail simply because someone is wealthy would not pass constitutional muster, although it would be a factor for setting how much.
I wouldn't have granted either of them bail, currently, since they are both established flight risks.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2016/01/09 22:33:22
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
2016/01/09 23:16:35
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
AlmightyWalrus wrote: Another idea could be to not let people get out of jail just because they have money. Crazy, for sure.
The US constitution prohibits setting excessive bails. There was no reason to deny him bail initially. Denying bail simply because someone is wealthy would not pass constitutional muster, although it would be a factor for setting how much.
I wouldn't have granted either of them bail, currently, since they are both established flight risks.
I was taking a dig at the system of letting people go because they have money in general.
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2016/01/11 17:35:48
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Orlanth wrote: All told Couch is now likely looking at 16-22 years in supermax. Well thats my prediction anyway.
Supermax? Seriously? lol
My guess is he serves the remainder of his sentence in a medium or maximum security state prison. I'd also bet he winds up in protective custody because he's so detached from reality he'll be a target in genpop.
Didn't someone link a video about a "millenial" in prison being in complete denial? That's what we're looking at here, is my guess.
2016/01/13 00:32:05
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
I agree that she isn't really a flight risk, and even if she were she's clearly unable to afford losing that much.
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2016/01/13 17:58:08
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
I agree that she isn't really a flight risk, and even if she were she's clearly unable to afford losing that much.
She is formerly a flight risk, but ankle bracelets mitigate that risk, as do the conditions, changs of circumstances and a large dose of cold hard reality.
It is reasonable to suggest that someone can explain to Ms Couch that trying to run away twice will be a seriously bad idea.
In a way its an intelligence test for her. Stick to bail, conditions to the letter or spend the rest of the time awaiting trial in prison and get a stiff sentence afterwards.
Her current alleged crime is unlikely to result in a custodial sentence, just a fine, which the bail absorbs anyway and a lot of community service.
If she escapes again she wont get far, she isn't a real hardened fugitive with knowledge of how to evade police long term and she will exhaust her finances quickly and could never return home. She is also hated and will quickly be looked fro and found. $75K is still a token amount for a rich person to avoid gaol, it is enough for the message to sink in.
Also she cant save her son any more no matter what she does. On this last part I haver some sympathy for her, she took her misguided actions beause she loves the brat, which is a mothers job. Ok she sucked as a mother in many ways hence the successful affluenza defence but a mother harbouring her own child from the law should be punished lightly for the act.
Orlanth wrote: All told Couch is now likely looking at 16-22 years in supermax. Well thats my prediction anyway.
Supermax? Seriously? lol
My guess is he serves the remainder of his sentence in a medium or maximum security state prison. I'd also bet he winds up in protective custody because he's so detached from reality he'll be a target in genpop.
Normally in the Uk escape risk inmates go into maximum security (Cat A) the rest gom into Cat B until assessed.
Looking at the US system it is fairly similar, have you tried to escape before or tried to run from an existing court restriction and your category of risk goes up. Couch is a high risk offender as reality hasn't sunk in yet. Maybe after a year inside his delusions will be washed away and he can be recategorised. However from what I read about the US penitentiary system when in one prison category you tend to stay there.
'Supermax' is a loose term. No Couch isnt in anywhere near the same category as terrorists and the people they place in Florence and similar centres, actual supermax. I was using it in the media sense to refer to maximum security prisons, of which there are a lot more and are often called supermax also.
You are correct though and I was not.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/01/13 18:04:03
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
2016/02/20 12:11:45
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
A judge on Friday sent the Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck to adult court, raising the possibility that he could get jail time for the 2013 crash that killed four people.
Ethan Couch was 16 at the time of the crash. During his juvenile trial, a defense expert invoked the term "affluenza" while arguing that Couch's wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility.
Friday's ruling means the now 18-year-old Couch could face up to 120 days in jail, then finish his 10-year probation. But if he violates his probation during that time, he could get up to 10 years in prison for each of the four people killed in the accident.
Among those attending the hearing was Sergio Molina, who was riding in the back of Couch's pickup and was left paralyzed by the wreck. He can only communicate by blinking his eyes.
Molina attended with his mother and brother, Alexander Lemus, who said that what he wanted from the Couches was "that they pay."
"What's 120 days in county? Lemus asked. "That's nothing. We need help. They have so much money, they need to pay."
The judge ordered that the case be transferred before Couch turns 19 in April. He remains in custody.
Couch's attorney, Scott Brown, did not fight the transfer. Although he has not explained the strategy, the punishment could have been greater if the judge had kept the case in the juvenile system.
Staying in juvenile court could have set off a series of hearings to determine whether Couch violated his existing probation, which potentially could have led to 10 years in adult prison when Couch ages out of the juvenile system at 19.
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By having the case transferred to the adult system, Couch will not face the possibility of a lengthy prison term unless he violates probation in the future. He may, however, face up to several months in the county jail.
After the hearing, Brown said he would not request any specific terms of probation for Couch.
A hearing to set the probation terms has not yet been scheduled.
Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, disappeared in December, as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation. They were later found in Mexico and deported.
Ethan Couch's blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit for adult drivers when he rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of people trying to help a stranded motorist on the side of a road near Fort Worth.
The probation sentence handed down by a juvenile court judge outraged prosecutors, who had called for him to face detention time.
Authorities believe that Ethan and Tonya Couch fled to Mexico in early December, after an online video surfaced that appeared to show the teenager at a party where alcohol was being served. Drinking alcohol would be a violation of his probation.
Mother and son were apprehended on Dec. 28, in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta. Tonya Couch, 48, was quickly deported; after being returned to Texas, she was released on bond with a GPS monitor. She is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon.
Her son initially fought deportation but later dropped the fight and returned to Texas in late January. He was being held at the Tarrant County Jail.
Looks like he is still going to get out of a reasonable amount of jail time.
2016/02/20 15:56:16
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Relapse wrote: I figured he wasn't going to get any real time.
I have no problem with how things played out, because I am quite confident he can't go 10 years without violating his probation, and then he's looking at the justice previously dodged.
You know, I said it before, but the damndest thing about all of this is how if when the beer pong video had came out, he probably wouldn't have really been in any trouble, had he not fled the country - ultimately he was just a juvenile with a really minor probation violation which is super common and it would have been heard in closed chambers probably. Now, of course, no judge that hears any future case with him will be willing to show any leniency whatsoever for fear of the public uproar, and the proceedings won't be sealed.
Just a very, very weird choice to have made.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/02/20 16:53:59
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
2016/02/20 17:21:24
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
I'm surprised he got off so light from the get-go. Especially, in Texas of all places.
Here, he would have been charged with manslaughter at best from the start. And due to the crime, he would have likely been tried as an adult from the beginning, since he was 16.
Of course, he would have started his sentence in juvie regardless of his trial status, until he turned 18. Then, it would be off to big boy's prison, where Big Bubba loves him some spoiled little rich boys.
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2016/02/20 20:25:49
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Relapse wrote: I figured he wasn't going to get any real time.
I have no problem with how things played out, because I am quite confident he can't go 10 years without violating his probation, and then he's looking at the justice previously dodged.
You know, I said it before, but the damndest thing about all of this is how if when the beer pong video had came out, he probably wouldn't have really been in any trouble, had he not fled the country - ultimately he was just a juvenile with a really minor probation violation which is super common and it would have been heard in closed chambers probably. Now, of course, no judge that hears any future case with him will be willing to show any leniency whatsoever for fear of the public uproar, and the proceedings won't be sealed.
Just a very, very weird choice to have made.
I worry about who else he might get killed along the way to doing some real time for his offences. He's already demonstrated he doesn't give a gak about those he has killed already.
2016/02/21 13:03:28
Subject: Re:Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
I'm surprised he got off so light from the get-go. Especially, in Texas of all places.
.
Daddy was rich and a community employer. The hard justice states are the states I would expect the most leniency for the affluent.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
2016/02/21 13:42:30
Subject: Affluenza teen and his mom go into hiding
Relapse wrote: I worry about who else he might get killed along the way to doing some real time for his offences. He's already demonstrated he doesn't give a gak about those he has killed already.
This is a very good point that I had not considered.
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
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