A judge transferred the case against "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch from juvenile court to adult court beginning after the teen's 19th birthday in April. Photo courtesy of Tarrant County Sheriff's Department
FORT WORTH, Texas, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A judge decided to wait until "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch ages out of the juvenile court system in April before his probation case is moved to adult court.
District Judge Timothy A. Menikos called for Couch, 18, to remain under the supervision of the juvenile court until he turns 19 on April 11. At that point, he will be assigned to a new judge in adult court who may revise the conditions of his probation. The judge may order Couch to spend up to 180 days in jail as part of an adult sentence in addition to parole. If he is found in violation of his parole, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Couch was 16 and had a blood-alcohol content of three times the Texas legal limit for an adult when he plowed into a vehicle, killing four people in 2013. He was sentenced to 10 years probation and ordered to stay away from drugs and alcohol. His sentence was seen as lenient due to his "affluenza" defense that he was too spoiled to understand the consequences of his actions.
Couch fled to Mexico with his mother in early December after a video surfaced purportedly showing him at a party where a beer-drinking game was being played, a possible parole violation. He and his mother, Tonya Couch, were found in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Dec. 28 after a two-week search. Tonya Couch, 48, is on house arrest after she was charged with hindering apprehension of a fugitive. Ethan Couch is being held in solitary confinement at the Tarrant County adult jail.
At the hearing Friday, some family members of the victims and representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving were watching.
"I believe now, with what Ethan Couch has seen [in jail], he has a real sense of what that world is like," Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said.
Defense attorney Scott Brown said he doesn't anticipate problems with "reasonable probation conditions."
"If, at some point, we feel like they're unreasonable — and we have a legal argument — then, yes, we will continue to represent Ethan and do everything that's in his best interest," he said.
