Ethan Couch was 16 when he killed four people and injured 2 in a drunk driving crash near Fort Worth, Texas in 2013. A jury convicted him of various DUI and manslaughter charges, but a sympathetic judge sentenced him to 10 years probation because she believed his lawyer’s “affluenza” argument that Couch was too rich to go to prison.
Now he’s missing.
According to CNN.com, a Dallas-area judge issued an arrest warrant for the 18-year-old after he failed to meet with his probation officer.
“The juvenile probation officer has been unable to make contact with Ethan or his mother with whom he has been residing,” attorneys Scott Brown and William Reagan Wynn said this week.
Couch was driving drunk on June 15, 2013 when his pickup truck plowed into four people, including a youth counselor, who stopped to help Breanna Mitchell, whose SUV broke down by the side of the road.
All 4 victims died in the crash. 2 teens riding in the bed of Couch’s pickup truck were seriously injured when they were thrown from the truck.
During the trial, Couch’s wealthy parents brought in a psychologist who told the court Ethan was too rich to understand the consequences of his actions.
The so-called “affluenza” defense was widely criticized by legal scholars and the news media in 2013.
Eric Boyles, who lost his wife Hollie and daughter Shelby, in the crash said at the time, “The primary message has to absolutely be that money and privilege can’t buy justice in this country.”
Couch was in the news earlier this month after a friend uploaded a Snapchat video to Twitter.com showing Couch attending a beer pong party. Alcohol consumption is a violation of the terms of Couch’s probation.
“Ya boy ethan couch violating probation,” wrote the Twitter user.
Couch faces 10 years in prison if he violated the terms of his probation.
