Auto Accident Lawyer Works for Victims in “Affluenza” Case

The family of a boy injured in a North Texas car wreck that resulted in four fatalities is refusing to settle their case, according to an auto accident lawyer. The case of 16-year-old Ethan Couch received nationwide attention when his attorney cited his well-to-do parents’ failure to instill a sense of responsibility in the young man – a psychological condition an expert witness referred to as “affluenza” – as the reason behind the accident in which 12-year-old Lucas McConnell was injured and four other people were killed.

The accident occurred when Couch ran his SUV into a group assisting a driver with a disabled vehicle move the car out of traffic. The accident resulted in the deaths of driver Breanna Mitchell and the three pedestrians who helped her move her vehicle, Brian Jennings, Hollie Boyles, and her daughter, Shelby Boyles.

Two of the seven passengers who were riding in Couch’s truck were also injured. Sergio Molina, who was thrown from the truck, is paralyzed and unable to speak. Solimon Mohmand suffered numerous broken bones and internal injuries. No news outlets have reported if the young men or their families will also retain an auto accident lawyer to pursue legal action against Couch.

Police recorded Couch’s BAC at 0.24, three times the legal limit for drivers of legal drinking age. Police also reported finding traces of the prescription drug Valium in Couch’s blood. The auto accident lawyer for Couch’s family blamed the young man’s coddled upbringing and sense of personal entitlement in his defense.

Despite recommendations from prosecutors that Couch be sentenced to twenty years in prison, the judge in the criminal case against Couch gave him ten years probation and a stint in a drug treatment facility. In an apparent response to both the severity of the accident and the lenient sentence, Lucas McConnell’s parents are pursuing civil action against the Couches with the help of an auto accident lawyer.

Eric Broyles, who lost his wife and daughter in the accident, told CNN that the Couches’ superior resources, including their auto accident lawyer and defense expert witness who coined the term “affluenza”, helped the younger Couch get off with a slap on the wrist.

“Had (the Couches) not had money to have the defense there,” Broyles said, “to also have the experts testify, and also offer to pay for the treatment, I think the results would have been different.” Broyles also noted that he saw “nothing from Ethan…with regards to remorse on his part at all.”

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