Friday, January 29, 2016
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck won't be moved to an adult jail as he awaits a court ruling on whether his case is transferred to the adult system, where he could face time behind bars, a judge ruled today.
Ethan Couch, 18, was booked into a juvenile detention facility in Fort Worth after he was deported from Mexico on Thursday. Authorities believe he and his mother fled the country as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he may have violated his probation in the 2013 wreck that killed four people.
Prosecutors and the local sheriff wanted Couch moved to an adult jail ahead of next month's hearing. But during a brief hearing today, Judge Timothy Menikos sided with Couch's attorneys and said Couch could stay at the juvenile center.
Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said her office would do everything it could to hold Couch accountable, but she noted she was limited by the 10-year probation sentence Couch was given during his trial in juvenile court in 2013.
Wilson urged the public not to feed Couch's "ego with notoriety," and to instead focus on the effects his drunken driving had on the victims and their families. The fatal accident also severely injured two people.