‘Affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch’s case sent to adult court

A judge in Fort Worth, Texas, decided Friday morning that the teenager who was found guilty in juvenile court of killing four people in a vehicle crash while driving drunk and spent weeks hiding out in Mexico before being sent back to the USA will have his case moved to the adult court system.

However if the now 18-year-old was to violate his probation again, he could go to prison for up to 40 years, ten for each person he killed.

“By transferring to the adult courts now he’s under supervision for a longer period of time from the adult court to make sure he doesn’t screw up, doesn’t continue drinking and driving even well into his adulthood”, said Alex Kim, a legal analyst. He didn’t arrive on time to see Ethan Couch.

Couch has been on the run in Mexico since he was caught in January.

The Friday ruling means Couch could face 120 days in jail, then finish his 10-year probation.

Prosecutor Richard Alpert has said that authorities will closely watch Couch after his release and would move swiftly to revoke his probation should he violate it.

In 2013, a lenient juvenile judge tried then 16-year-old Couch on an “affluenza” defense that blamed his reckless behavior in the wreck that killed four and injured others on the teen’s inability to distinguish right from wrong because of an affluent upbringing where his parents coddled him.

Staying in juvenile court could have set off a series of hearings to determine if Couch violated his existing probation, which potentially could have led to 10 years in adult prison when Couch ages out of the juvenile system at 19.

Still, prosecutors plan to request the adult court judge sentence him to 120 days in days in prison for fleeing the country. They were later deported to Texas. Fox 4 Dallas reported Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson described Couch’s demeanor while waiting for Friday’s hearing as “stoic”. Instead of jail time, Couch received the 10 year probation plus rehab and counseling.

New conditions to Couch’s probation are expected to be added during a hearing a few days before his 19th birthday, per the judge, so that the probation conditions are in place when he actually turns 19. Consuming alcohol would break the terms of his probation.

His attorney said he would not request any specific conditions.

Tonya and Ethan Couch were arrested in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta on December 28, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts. She remains on 24-hour home confinement as she faces a felony charge of hindering apprehension for fleeing to Mexico with her son.