‘Affluenza’ teen taken to juvenile detention

“He’s very calm. He was very quiet, very passive – not at all argumentative or resistant”, Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said of Couch upon his arrival.

The sheriff revealed Couch is scheduled to attend a detention hearing on Friday (29 January) and was also set to be medically screened and assigned to a housing unit at Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center. A judge at the time accepted his lawyer’s “affluenza” defense, which claimed Couch’s privileged upbringing prevented him from understanding right from wrong.

Ethan Couch, 18, was on juvenile probation after killing four people in a drink-driving crash in 2013. As required by the Texas Family Code, the 323rd District Court will conduct a brief detention hearing [Friday] concerning Ethan’s status pending further proceedings in this case.

If the case is indeed moved to adult court, and Ethan Couch violates his probation again, he faces up to 10 years in prison for each death that occurred in 2013 at his hands. Couch and his mother were apprehended in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta on December 28, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts.

A commercial flight carrying “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch arrived Thursday morning at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, hours after uniformed Mexican immigration agents escorted the teen from a Mexico City immigration detention center.

Ethan Couch initially fought deportation, but he dropped the fight earlier this week.

But before that happens, a juvenile court judge will decide if Ethan remains in juvenile custody, is moved to an adult jail or is allowed to go home with an ankle monitor and or other restrictions.

In December, Couch and his mother were detained in Puerto Vallarta following an global manhunt for the teenager after he missed a routine check-in with his probation officer. Tonya Couch was deported two days later, but her son had been fighting against deportation. Couch apparently vanished after the emergence of a video showing him at a party taking part in a drinking game, which violated the terms of his probation. The 48-year-old has been charged with hindering apprehension of a felon, itself a felony. Couch, who was 16 at the time, had a blood-alcohol level almost three times the legal limit for an adult. She was released from jail on January 12 after posting $75,000 bond, CNN affiliate KTVT reported.

In a statement released Thursday, Couch’s lawyers said they are optimistic that he will comply with all court-imposed terms and conditions going forward.