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Will An ‘Affluenza’ Defense Keep Dr. Phil Guest Bo Douglas Morgan, Who Got Two DUIs, Out Of Jail?

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 09:55 PST, Nov 30, 2016

The Dr. Phil Show had a young man and his parents on today as a family in crisis. Bo Douglas Morgan has been charged with two DUIs, running over a man while under the influence, and the possession of several drugs, including 66 tabs of LSD, two Xanax pills, and a trace amount of marijuana. The young man is now just shy of his 18th birthday, but he is being charged as an adult. Dr. Phil was tasked with getting Morgan to take his situation seriously, but the psychologist was getting a strong whiff of what is now being called affluenza.

Affluenza first became a term used in the courts and the media after Ethan Couch, a now 19-year-old in Texas who, because of his indulgent childhood, was said not to be responsible for running over and killing several people while he was stoned and drunk, as reported by the Inquisitr. Couch’s lawyer argued that his parents never said no to him, so Couch didn’t fully understand right from wrong. Couch walked away on probation, but after violating that probation, he and his mother fled the country and hid out in Mexico. Ethan Couch is now in jail as a result of the probation violation and for going on the run. His mother, Tonya Couch, is also facing jail time.

The parents of Bo Douglas Morgan, Jackie and Darin Morgan of Wyoming, sat on the Dr. Phil Show stage with Dr. Phil to talk about their son, who is facing some serious time behind bars for a laundry list of crimes that had been treated as minor infractions by the local police and the Morgan parents. The local paper, the Gillette News Record, laid out several of the crimes that Bo Douglas Morgan is alleged to have committed before the age of 18. The Morgans told Dr. Phil that Bo got two DUIs in two weeks, and in one case, he is said to have run over a local man. After each DUI that resulted in wrecked cars, the Morgan parents bought Bo a new one.

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After the first DUI and wreck, Bo was released to his parents, and in the second case that also included drug charges, his mother bailed him out, so he didn’t have to spend time in jail. At the time of the show, the parents revealed that Bo still had access to a car and was under no restrictions at home.

The current charges against Bo Douglas Morgan, who is being charged as an adult so his identity could be revealed, are driving while under the influence of controlled substances causing serious bodily injury, a felony possession charge for LSD, and a misdemeanor possession charge for alprazolam. After the accident, Morgan was tested, and the Campbell County Attorney’s Office got a report back from the state lab indicating that his blood showed amphetamines, barbituates, benzodiazepines (tranquilizers) and cannabinoids, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.

When Morgan, at the time 16, struck the pedestrian, he told police he thought he had hit an antelope. He also explained that he had taken a tab of LSD about 45 minutes before the accident. Responding officers said that he was somewhat incoherent. Police explained that the victim was drunk and had fallen in the street before being run over by Morgan.

“(He) was walking in the direction he believed their motel to be and didn’t remember anything beyond that. (He) stated he didn’t remember falling down, being hit and run over by the car or anything.”

The victim suffered head trauma and multiple other injuries, and he spent time in the ICU. There were several witnesses to the accident.

Sadly, Dr. Phil got mostly attitude from Bo Douglas Morgan, who seemed annoyed that his parents believe in obeying the law, especially in reference to drugs. Though his obviously affluent parents have now replaced two wrecked cars, he expressed disdain that they did not approve of him smoking marijuana (which is still illegal in Wyoming). When asked what he wanted to do in the future, he said he wanted degrees in botany and business to grow his own marijuana to “help people.”

Morgan is facing time behind bars, but to improve his chances of leniency, Dr. Phil offered to send him away for treatment, for which the family was receptive.

[Featured Image by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images]

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