The judge in the controversial Ethan Couch case hasn’t always been so lenient and last year sentenced a 14-year-old African American boy to 10 years in prison after he punched someone and they died.
Judge Jean Boyd is facing calls to be removed from her position after she handed out the remarkably lenient sentence - 10 years probation - to 16-year-old Couch who killed four people and injured seven while on a drunken joyride.
The case has attracted nationwide attention after a psychologist claimed that Couch suffered from ‘affluenza’, a condition in which his wealth and privilege kept him from understanding the consequences of his actions.

Judge Jean Boyd is facing calls to be removed from her position after she handed out a remarkably lenient sentence of 10 years probation to Ethan Couch who killed four people while on a drunken joyride
Last year Judge Boyd sentenced a 14-year old boy to prison for killing one person with a powerful punch. The teenage suspect’s name was never made public since he was prosecuted as a juvenile.
'Just after 10 p.m. on October 6, the teen was riding in a Cadillac with two friends when he suddenly jumped out of the vehicle in the 1700 block of Vaughn Avenue and punched [Mark] Gregory, who was 5-foot-1 and weighed 106 pounds,' said the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office in a statement.

'Gregory’s head struck the pavement and he died two days later.'
The 14-year-old boy admitted to the crime and never expressed remorse for the murder, according to prosecutors.
Gregory’s mother, Anita Lauterbach, said she remembers Judge Boyd pushing for rehabilitation, much like in the Couch case.

'She wanted to send him to one of these special places in Arizona, but no one would take him,' Lauterbach told WFAA.
'We were horrified. We just couldn't believe it. The district attorney and I were just sitting on pins and needles. But, when nobody would take him, [it was] a sigh of relief.'
Lauterbach said she's still disgusted at her experience with the judge.
'She's too easy on them,' Lauterbach said. 'I don't think she needs to be sitting on that bench.'
Boyd is expected to retire next year, but a petition has been launched at change.org demanding that Texas Governor Rick Perry remove her from the bench immediately.

'This sentence is a slap in the face [of] the families of those who were killed. He's sent to California to a spa-type center while the families of the victims get to go to a cemetery,' wrote a supporter of the petition, Stephen Pyka of Texas.
'This is another disgusting display of the wealthy trying to change the rules when they break them. This judge should be removed for aiding a murderer,' noted another supporter, Nina Eagle of Appomattox, Va.
The relatives of one of the seven friends who were piled into Couch’s pickup truck have spoken out about the ‘living hell’ they have been in since the accident six months ago.
Sergio Molina was in the back of a pickup truck being driven erratically by Couch when he slammed into four people on the side of a road.
Those four people - a young woman whose car had broken down, a Good Samaritan trying to help, and a mother and daughter who also got out to see what they could do - were all killed.

Sergio, who is now 16, is still alive but has a completely different existence than he did before the accident as he is paralyzed, ‘minimally conscious’ and needs constant medical attention.
Speaking to CNN, Sergio’s older brother Alex Lemus said that doctors warned them of getting their hopes too high.
‘That’s all we can hope for, is how he is now for the rest of his life,’ Lemus said.
He attended Couch’s trial in place of his brother, who can barely move without assistance.
When the judge handed down a sentence of 10 years’ probation and no jail time for the crash, Lemus said that he had trouble processing his anger.
He said he was ‘disappointed, so outrageously angry that I couldn’t say anything’.
His mother, Maria Lemus, still breaks down in tears when thinking about all of Sergio’s dreams that seem so far out of reach in light of the accident.

‘He was the best son, he was the kind of boy who had a lot of dreams,’ Lemus said.
‘He was his first dream was to be a soccer player. He was sweet.’
Sergio’s family estimates that they have accrued more than $1million in medical bills over the past six months, and they are now suing Couch’s family and his father’s business - the car that the boys were in was owned by the company - for up to $20million.
Before: Sergio had dreams of playing professional soccer before the accident
Before: Sergio had dreams of playing professional soccer before the accident
‘That kid killed four people and crippled my little brother and doesn’t even have to serve one year? If he were poor like us, he would’ve gotten 10 years, I bet,’ Alex Lemus told The Dallas Morning News.
They are not the first victims relatives to speak out in light of the controversial ruling, as Eric Boyles, who lost his wife Hollie and 21-year-old daughter Shelby in the accident said he is dissatisfied with the easy sentence, and thinks Couch should have been tried as an adult.
Since he was tried as a juvenile, Couch faced a maximum of 20 years in prison but would have been eligible for parole after two years.
'You look at 180 years of future life taken from the four individuals...Even a two year deal, a two year sentence before he's eligible for parole, didn't seem exactly fair under those circumstances,' Boyle said.
Additionally upsetting to Boyle is the fact that Couch will receive his counseling at a 'country club'-style treatment center- with a pricetag of $450,000 per year and features equine therapy and organic menu options- in ritzy Newport Beach, California.
The fatal accident occurred around 11:45pm on June 15, Couch and a group his friends who were all drunk, got into a red Ford F350 pick-up and were speeding 70 mph in a 40 mph zone when the truck left the road.
As it careered out of control, it clipped a broken down SUV, throwing the owner and four good Samaritans, who were trying to help, 60 yards in the air. Youth pastor Brian Jennings, mother and daughter Hollie and Shelby Boyles and 24-year-old Breanna Mitchell were all killed on impact.
It was revealed soon after that Couch's blood-alcohol level was 0.24 - three times the adult limit, though minors aren't allowed any alcohol in their system - and that he was also on the prescription drug Valium when he started the chain reaction of crashes.
The impact flung the four people 50 to 60 yards, authorities reported.

A psychologist called by the defense, Dr Gary Miller, blamed the teen's behavior on his parents, claiming they gave him whatever he wanted including 'freedoms no young person should have'.
Dr Miller called Couch a product of 'affluenza,' where his family felt their wealth bought privilege and there was no rational link between behavior and consequences. He added that the boy had an 'intellectual age' of 18 but an 'emotional age' of 12.
'The teen never learned to say that you’re sorry if you hurt someone,' Dr Miller said, according to the Star Telegram. 'If you hurt someone, you sent him money.'
State District Judge Jean Boyd appeared to agree with the defense.
She told the teen that he is responsible for what happened, but she said she didn't believe he would receive the therapy he needed in jail. If he violates the terms of his probation, he could be sent to prison for 10 years.
Defense attorneys asked that he be sent to a private rehabilitation home near Newport Beach, California, which costs an enormous $450,000 a year. His father said he'd foot the bill.

Prosecutors said the juvenile justice system also offered counseling.
Breanna's mother, Marla Mitchell, said she was 'mad' about the sentence and embraced the families of the other victims outside of the courtroom.
'He'll be feeling the hand of God, definitely,' she told WFAA.com. 'He may think he got away with something, but he hasn't gotten away with anything.'

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2524108/Judge-let-spoiled-rich-teen-killed-DUI-previously-boy-aged-fourteen-prison-TEN-YEARS.html#ixzz2nvCWKr4n

The defense was that this kid had been brought up to never suffer the consequences for his actions.

Four people were killed.

Two people were severely injured.

Pics in a moment.

Killed: Hollie Boyles, 52, and her daughter, Shelby Boyles, 21, were helping out the driver of a broken down SUV when they were struck and killed by Couch's out-of-control pickup

Same source

Victims: Breanna Mitchell, and Brian Jennings, 41, were both killed in the horrific crash

Same source

Before: Sergio had dreams of playing professional soccer before the accident


Forever changed: Sergio Molina, now 16, was in a coma following the June accident but now has been transferred home as his family grapples with how to adjust to his now-permanent paralysis

Same source.

Drunk: Couch's blood alcohol reading was .24 and he also had a Valium in his system when he killed four people and injured several more on June 15

Same source

One couple's bad parental habits = loss of four lives + the crippling of dreams + heaven knows how much more

And we say their justice system is unbiased.

What nonsense!

yellowpawpaw: And we say their justice system is unbiased.

What nonsense!

I read enough novels and watched enough movies not to believe that myth

And God was just watching while the horrific accident happened.


Or maybe Gd has a plan for the paralysed boy......he wants the boy to go to Enugu river and drinbk zamzam water then gett healed nd become born again.


This situation Is just sad....racism and elitism with money...

Logicboy03: And God was just watching while the horrific accident happened.


Or maybe Gd has a plan for the paralysed boy......he wants the boy to go to Enugu river and drinbk zamzam water then gett healed nd become born again.


This situation Is just sad....racism and elitism with money...

Yeah it is

Read a great reply somewhere. Will post the link here. Give me a minute.

Very sad indeed!

Parenthood aint kids' play. It requires wisdom, lot of it.

Basically, Couch was coddled his entire life and now his punishment is more coddling.

@AMFM, the above is from that link you provided, dude. It's exactly what I was thinking when I saw that story the first time. The defense effectively said to the judge, "please don't punish the rich kid because he's never been punished all his life". I mean, what the hell is that supposed to mean? I fully agree that the woman needs to leave that seat.

This kid needs to be taught consequences not shielded from them. Sometimes, I wonder just how screwed up the intellects and mentalities of Westerners must be.