Free Republic

The family of a Texas teenager who killed four people in a drunken-driving wreck has agreed to pay more than $2 million to the family of a boy left paralyzed by the accident. Tarrant County court documents show that the liability insurer of Ethan Couch’s parents agreed to pay more than $1 million in cash and the rest in two annuities to a trust established for Sergio Molina. …

Taxpayers will pick up most of the $715-a-day cost of state hospital treatment for Ethan Couch who killed four people and injured two others in a drunken driving crash in June 2013 when he was 16. Couch, who turned 17 on Friday, was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to a list of charges including intoxication manslaughter. His attorneys argued that his wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility, a condition one witness called "affluenza." At the time, the teen’s parents said they would pay for mental health treatment at a private facility in California, which costs about...

The family of Ethan Couch, the teenager who fatally struck a disabled motorist and three good Samaritans last summer while driving drunk near Burleson, has settled lawsuits with some of the victims’ families. The Couch family agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to the families of Breanna Mitchell and Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby. The family of youth pastor Brian Jennings has not reached a settlement with Couch’s family. Jennings and the Boyleses had pulled over to help Mitchell, who had stopped after a tire blowout late June 15 in the 1500 block of Burleson-Retta Road. The pickup Couch...

Affluenza Teen Ethan Couch Sentenced to Undetermined Amount of Rehab No minimum time set for treatment The Tarrant County intoxication manslaughter case involving "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch touched off more controversy Wednesday, as the teen was spared further jail time but ordered to rehab. The 16-year-old was back in court Wednesday after prosecutors requested jail time on charges related to two people who suffered injuries in the crash that killed four others last June. On Wednesday afternoon, Couch's attorney said Judge Jean Boyd ordered his client to a rehabilitation facility that would be paid for by his parents, but didn't...

Prosecutors were pushing for 16-year-old Ethan Couch to spend 20 years in prison. However, State District Judge Jean Boyd sentenced Couch to a decade of probation. There was no debate about who was behind the wheel last June, when Couch plowed into and killed four people. Couch has admitted to being the driver, and court records show his blood alcohol level was .24 at the time of the crash, three times the legal limit for an adult. Prosecutors also presented evidence that Couch and some friends stole beer from a Burleson Walmart on June 15, the night of the crash....