Victims’ families file multimillion dollar lawsuits against “affluenza” teen

[Ichingcarpenter]

DALLAS (NBC) – After a controversial sentence by a Texas judge, the families of the victims who were injured or killed in a drunk driving crash are now suing a teen who claimed “affluenza” prevented him from knowing the consequences for his actions.

Ethan Couch, 16, was sentenced to an alcohol treatment facility and 10 years of probation after he was convicted of drunken driving, which resulted in the deaths of four people.
In June, Breanna Mitchell’s vehicle broke down on the side of a North Texas road.

Hollie and Shelby Boyles both stopped to lend a hand, along with youth pastor Brian Jennings.

As they were trying to fix the stranded vehicle, the group was hit by Couch, who was driving while intoxicated.
The sentence sparked outrage after Couch’s defense attorneys said he suffered from “affluenza,” meaning that since his family is so rich, he was unable to know right from wrong.
Five civil lawsuits have been filed, including three lawsuits from the families of the four victims who were killed.

Eric Boyles is suing Couch for more than $1 million in damages after his wife and daughter were killed when they were hit by Couch’s vehicle.


http://kfor.com/2013/12/16/victims-families-file-multimillion-dollar-lawsuits-against-affluenza-teen/

[appleannie1]

1. I doubt that will wipe the smirk off his face.

[TeamPooka]

2. If they are so rich then they can do the right thing...oh wait....

that's not how it works is it?

[riqster]

3. If affluence is a medical disorder, these suits are the cure.

Modern medicine at its finest.

[LiberalEsto]

6. You're right - wrongful death lawsuits can be a cure for "affluenza"

I would not care if those idiot rich parents lost every last cent.

[riqster]

7. "And be thereto mulcted in the costs". nt

[Heather MC]

19. Well I guess I will cancel the 3 day find a cure telathon

[riqster]

20. We could still have one. They can be fun.

I said "fuck it" and made my snark an OP: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024190099

[iandhr]

28. Not exactly

Last edited Tue Dec 17, 2013, 05:34 PM - Edit history (1)

If they are so rich they can buy their sons freedom they will being willing to payoff the victims. To them it's factored in as the cost of doing business.

[riqster]

29. Depends on how MUCH those costs are.

[exboyfil]

42. In the case of his friend who was paralyzed

HUGE - $20M and that probably does not even cover the total future cost of the care a young man paralyzed and brain damaged will have throughout his life

I do hope that get that judgment and it is placed inside an trust account for the care of this boy otherwise the tax payers will get an additional present since not even an upper middle class family can handle these types of expenses and I doubt a child had LTC insurance

Probably a $1M/each to the families of each one who died.

I really don't know if he has this kind of money. I would suspect it will take some significant arm twisting to get any from his liability policy given the circumstances.

I am sure at trial they will try to diminish the liability for the friends because they elected to jump into the truck with a crazed drunk, but society's interests should also be protected (full Medicaid disability for 40+ years).

[WillyT]

4. K & R !!!

[ck4829]

5. Time for some REAL rehab

[Baitball Blogger]

8. Exactly why should the victims pay the price for the parent's poor parenting skills?

I hope they win, and win big.

[jberryhill]

9. They might just find a cure for it

[pnwest]

10. $1M is a drop in the bucket to them, I'm guessing.

They need to sue for an amount that would get their attention. It's not about the money, it's about affecting these people in a way they can understand.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Good - I'd say far more than $1m in damages for 2 lives is justified

Earnings potential, disruption to other lives - if this human scum got let off because his parents are rich, then apply a ruthless "everything can be valued in money" approach to making them paupers for having failed so completely to bring up a responsible son (remember, before this, the police found him with a passed out, undressed, 14-year-old girl). They already knew they were too immoral to bring up a child properly, but did nothing to change it. These are people who cannot be trusted with money or children.

[Sheldon Cooper]

12. A legal question:

In Texas, can the parents be held legally liable for their son's actions? It's one thing to sue the kid, who presumably "owns" nothing as he is not an adult yet. But can you sue his filthy rich parents and win a judgement?


ETA: I hope it's true and the families sue this kid and his parents into oblivion.

[Rex]

14. Was he on their car insurance?

16 and on the insurance, I would say yes since they are just as liable by allowing him to drive...or did he even have car insurance? Really, they should take the parents for every dime they have. 1 million dollars is a pittance for two souls imo. The devil pays more.

[Sheldon Cooper]

15. He was probably on their car insurance, if they had any.

They don't seem to be the most responsible people in the world. Probably figure they can just cruise through life and throw money at whatever problems develop.

I think most car insurances have a damage cap, so hopefully that will be exceeded and then the victims can go after their personal assets. I would love to see him and his two worthless parents bankrupted and living under a bridge.

[Rex]

16. Yeah a civil suit on their part would be a done deal.

Unless these rich people have connections, then all bets are off imo. I cannot believe in America, we have people that believe they are entitled to...oh wait how could I forget the GOP. They are the most entitled assholes ever to exist.

[CatWoman]

27. I read that the vehicle Couch was driving was one of his father's company cars

[exboyfil]

43. Brings up a whole set of additional questions

doesn't it. It definitely exposes the corporation to additional liability where it may be more difficult to become O.J. style judgement proof. I wonder how much equity he has in his business buildings now - some a**hole banker will probably loan against the building, he will convert the loan to his own needs, and the banker will be first up in any bankruptcy settlement.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Excellent!

[ReRe]

17. The judge needs to be sued too (or the state),

... dis-barred and thrown in the street.

[Gothmog]

54. The judge has absolute immunity on this

The only thing that can be done is to vote the judge out of office at the next election

[ReRe]

60. Judges are not Gods.

They can be impeached in one way or another, by the state, no?

[Gothmog]

61. The only real remedy is to vote them out

It is possible to sanction a judge but this process is very difficult. This was done to the judge who was sending tweets and messages to one of the parties (an assistant district attorney) but now that judge is running to be District Attorney http://www.juanitajean.com/2013/12/16/oh-sure-then-who-will-text-you/

[Dopers_Greed]

18. These suits should be easy wins

The shitbag parents basically confessed wrongdoing with the "affluenza" defense.

[pediatricmedic]

62. They won't be, money buys really good lawyers and judges

Along with many years of delays.

[catbyte]

21. YAY. Hit 'em where it hurts. If true justice can't prevail, make them pay through the nose.

It's really the only thing they understand anyway. What a tragedy.

[AtheistCrusader]

22. Ah-ha! A language they DO speak.

[LiberalAndProud]

23. It seems fair. He should be cured of his affluenza. permanently.

[7962]

24. I bet they've lost LOTS of their friends over this. Who'd want to be seen at one of their parties?

Thats one thing about the wealthy; everyones your friend, but if you do something disgusting like this, they will abandon you in a heartbeat.
Now if the courts will break them financially, they might actually realize what they've done. We can hope.

[BrotherIvan]

25. All the families should do a huge class action

First of all, the shit was driving a company car. That's the ballgame, folks, the source of all daddy's income. Business vehicles are not treated or insured like personal vehicles and there are very stiff fines for misuse. Tax people could also go after daddy for this.

$1M is far too low as daddy is paying $450k just for shit's treatment.

A really high-powered lawyer could get so much out of this because the parents implicated themselves at his trial. They were allowing a 16 year-old to live without parental supervision, which might be illegal. They should be asking for far far more.

Civil cases have a much lower threshold of proof than criminal cases I think. If I were one of those jurors I would be one that awards something so much higher than asked because every cent should be stripped from this father and his disgusting son.

[leftynyc]

38. You're right about the standard of proof

In a criminal case it's beyond a reasonable doubt (probably 95% sure), in a civil case, it's just preponderance of the evidence (51%) - the parents are toast on this but $1 million seems like peanuts.

[Gothmog]

47. Class actions are not appropriate here

The plaintiffs can bring a suit but class actions are limited to cases with so many plaintiffs or injured parties that one must have a representative plaintiff who represents all members of the class.

[BrotherIvan]

56. Thanks very much to both of you

Very interesting info.

[DinahMoeHum]

26. "The way to hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people"

- says Billy Valentine (played by Eddie Murphy) in the movie Trading Places.

[VWolf]

33. Really?

I thought you could just shoot 'em in the kneecaps with a double-barreled shotgun.

[DinahMoeHum]

36. Maybe.

But then you could get twenty years for that shit.

[VWolf]

58. Egg nog??? n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. This...the family will understand.

[MADem]

31. They should sue his parents too, for providing the instrument of murder to that little shit. nt

[TwilightGardener]

32. Couch family soon to experience "Poorfluenza".

[Dawson Leery]

34. The Couch's have a business.

They CERTAINLY can afford to pay and must pay.

[exboyfil]

45. Just because he has a business

does not mean he has money for a substantial judgment. I suspect he is already figuring on personal and corporate bankruptcy (the truck was owned by the corporation which brings up the question of why were they delivering sheet metal at night doing 70 mph - wait I guess it was being driven for personal use - does the tax man know?).

I bet he did not blink an eye at the $450/K for the treatment (and I wonder how he will get on the back end). Any money lying around we be gobbled up by the lawyers and the judgement. The money he moved offshore - now that is another question.

[sdfernando]

35. Add 3 zeros to that amount

1 mil isn't going to hurt them...1 billion will.

[LadyHawkAZ]

37. Sounds like an excellent cure.

[loudsue]

39. One million? I'd sue for the whole banana. Might teach the whole family "right from wrong".

That's how they might "learn".

[QuestForSense]

40. Maybe that judge inadverently set new precedent?

If some dumb kid is deemed too stupid to have learned right from wrong because he comes from an affluent family, might not the same logic apply to some other dumb kid too stupid to have learned because he comes from a poor family? I wonder what kind of a stupid family that judge comes from?

[florida08]

41. that whole 'affluenza' defense

is an insult to working people everywhere not to mention a gross miscarriage of justice. To actually pretend that he can't be held accountable because of his rich parents being so uninvolved they didn't teach him the basic principles of living in a civilized society is enough to want to sue them for every penny they have. What a rotten judge who deemed his life was more important than the people he killed being under the influence. I hope the people in Texas stand with the families on this.

[Skittles]

48. what's very disturbing is

this kid had previous alcohol-related infractions - there should have been an intervention then, before he could kill people

[florida08]

49. absolutely

Does seem the parents need some mandatory training in rearing offspring. Wouldn't you think this judge who actually accepted this reason of defense would see that? Honestly she should have her robes removed.

[WowSeriously]

44. I certainly hope the "judge" doesn't become a victim of Afluenza some day.

[Gothmog]

46. Texas Law is not great here

This is not my area of the law. The parents are liable for property damages but such damages may be capped at $25,000 per occurance. http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/FA/htm/FA.41.htm

Sec. 41.001. LIABILITY. A parent or other person who has the duty of control and reasonable discipline of a child is liable for any property damage proximately caused by:
(1) the negligent conduct of the child if the conduct is reasonably attributable to the negligent failure of the parent or other person to exercise that duty; or
(2) the wilful and malicious conduct of a child who is at least 10 years of age but under 18 years of age.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 587, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.


Sec. 41.002. LIMIT OF DAMAGES. Recovery for damage caused by wilful and malicious conduct is limited to actual damages, not to exceed $25,000 per occurrence, plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 20, Sec. 1, eff. April 20, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 783, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

This statute is for property damages. I am not sure if the limit applies to personal injuries.

[florida08]

50. I don't think so

I believe this is vehicular homicide which is a felony pretty much everywhere. Those penalties include:
Monetary punishment
Prison
Drug and Alcohol treatment
Loss of License
and community service

[Gothmog]

53. Those are criminal penalties and will not help the plaintiffs

I still think that the plaintiffs can sue for personal injury under the common law understanding that any claims for property damage are capped at $25,000

[florida08]

57. Guess it depends on POV

Iwas thinking in terms of justice not monetary compensation which I think is what the families would prefer. At least I would. They didn't get that. Just like the Trayvon case.

[Gothmog]

59. The victims will need to be compensated

Paying a fine to the state will not help the victims of this tort. It appears that the Texas limitation on damages applies to property damages only and that the plaintiffs are relying on common law/restatement of torts to sue the parents. Large verdicts and payments are the best help to the plaintiffs/victims

[florida08]

51. The more I think about this

The more I am convinced that the wealthy should indeed be paying a whole lot more in taxes. This is a prime example of justice inequality based on a bank account.

[Mojo Electro]

52. The family of Sergio Molina

is suing for $20 million. The maximum. I hope they get every cent. It should help somewhat with their affluenza. Hopefully this lawsuit can rid this poor family of their terrible affliction.

[Blue_Tires]

55. I'm sure the state legislature will pass a law to prevent these kinds of lawsuit...

ala Zimmerman....