‘Affluenza’ Teen and Family Reveals Drug and Alcohol-Fueled Life in New Deposition

October 16, 2015

In a recently released, never-before-seen deposition video obtained by

At his trial, psychologist Dr. G. Dick Miller testified on Couch’s behalf that he did not understand the consequences of his actions because of his financial privilege. He said that Couch’s upbringing and absence of childhood discipline caused him to suffer from affluenza.

Couch’s affluenza defense infamously earned him 10 years of probation, as opposed to the prosecution’s advocated 20-year prison term.

Lucas McConnell, now 15, was the last of the victims to settle a lawsuit against Couch for the fatal drunk driving accident that killed four and injured 11. His civil suit forced the Couch family to partake in a deposition that has been exclusively obtained by ABC.

The Couch family testified under oath on behalf of Ethan to prove that he did, in fact, suffer from affluenza.

The deposition revealed that Couch’s parents gave him access to anything he wanted, except perhaps discipline. Couch was revealed to have often lived alone in the family’s 4,000-square-foot house, which included a pool and wet bar. His mother, Tonya, and father, Fred, were both aware that Ethan had problems with alcohol prior to the night of the accident.

When asked during the deposition whether alcohol was available most of the time at his family’s home in Burleson, Texas, Couch replied, “Yes, most of the time.”

When the attorney asked Tonya if she ever disciplined Ethan, she said that she would “sometimes … take little things away from him or we would just discuss the problems.”

Asked whether she could remember the last time she disciplined him, she said, “I don’t remember.”

When the attorney asked Couch if he ever had any experiences with any drugs, he listed off several: “I’ve taken Valium, Hydrocodone, marijuana, cocaine, Xanax and I think I tried ecstasy once, pretty sure that was it.” The drug rehab orlando can help overcome such problems.

Although Fred testified that “[Ethan] seemed pretty responsible,” he also stated that he knew his son had issues with alcohol in the past.

When the attorney asked Ethan if he remembered anything from that night, he said, “Not really.” He said he only remembered “waking up handcuffed to the hospital bed.”

Crouch was driving his parents’ pickup truck at approximately 70 mph when he lost control of the vehicle, plowed into a group of bystanders and slammed into a ditch, which instantly killed four people on June 15, 2013.

Couch currently manages his time serving his probation and working at at his father’s business, Cleburne Sheet Metal.

Eric Boyles, a man who lost his wife and daughter in the 2013 crash said:

“Never once has Ethan apologized in any shape or form.”

Share this Article