This past week, news channels all across America covered an extraordinary DUI case involving a teenager from Texas. The teenager with the initials E.C. was driving drunk on June 15^th with three of his friends after the teenagers had stolen some beer from a local Walmart. The teen drove a pick-up truck with two friends in the truck bed guzzling beer, and one friend riding shotgun next to him. As they were careening down a road, they failed to see a small crowd of people standing on the side of the street. The individuals were trying to fix an SUV that had broken down.

According to the story, a woman's SUV had broken down, and another woman and daughter left their home to help the individual who was stranded on the side of the road. A local youth pastor was driving past when he saw the women on the side of the road. He also stopped to help restart the car. All four of these individuals were killed suddenly and violently when E.C.'s truck came barreling down the road and slammed into them. According to investigations, the truck first hit a parked car which slid into another vehicle that was headed the opposite direction. In addition to the four deaths, the two passengers in the bed of E.C.'s truck were severely injured.

One of E.C.'s friends remains in a vegetative state and the other is recovering from serious internal injuries and broken bones. Three hours after the crash, E.C. still had a blood-alcohol content of 0.24, which is three times the local limit. Essentially, the teenager had committed a volley of crimes including underage drinking, a super extreme DUI, four counts of DUI manslaughter, and the theft crime for lifting the beer in the first place. Now, about half a year later, the court has adjourned and this case has been concluded.

In most situations, a teenager who killed four people in an underage drunk driving situation could get prison for at least decades, if not life. Yet E.C.'s lawyer was able to argue a very creative point. The defense attorney claimed that the teenager was a victim of a psychological condition that many physicians are now calling "affluenza." Essentially, they argue that the teenager is the product of a very wealthy, privilege family that never set limits for their son.

Prosecutors asked that E.C. be given the maximum sentence for his crime, 20 years behind bars. Instead, he was issued 10 years' probation with no jail time. This is because the court agreed with the defense attorney that the teenager had never limits and could not be held fully responsible for his actions. Some of the victim's family members are enraged at the verdict, and are demanding financial compensation from the family as a result.

The attorney who defended E.C. in the case believes that the child's parents deserve to share part of the blame. As a result, he recommends that the teenager spend one year apart from his parents and spend two years in treatment to reverse his spoiled lifestyle. If the teenager violates his probation terms, then he can face up to 10 years of incarceration. If you have been arrested and are being charged with DUI manslaughter, hire a professional and creative lawyer to help you today. There are a wide variety of defenses that you may be able to use. E.C. and his family are not completely free from difficulty, as the families of the victims are suing for $20 million. If you want more information about DUI defense locate a local lawyer using this directory.