Judge who let off 'spoiled' rich teen who killed four in DUI previously put Black Kid aged fourteen in prison for TEN YEARS
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.
'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.
Instead of prison, Couch is set to spend time at the swanky Newport Academy male residential rehabilitation center in California with his parents footing the bill
'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.
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.
‘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.
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.'
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