Sheriff: Couches fighting extradition to USA, will ‘most likely’ not return today

Couch, the Texas teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident, likely won’t return to the USA anytime soon because of a Mexican judge’s decision to delay his deportation.

“We simply do not know when the Ethan and Tonya Couch will be returned to the USA”, said Laura Vega, a spokeswoman with the service in Dallas. Once returned to Texas, Couch will be held in a Tarrant County facility until a probation violation hearing next month. “While the public may not like what she did, may not agree with what she did, or may have strong feelings against what she did, make no mistake – Tonya did not violate any law of the State of Texas and she is eager to have her day in court”.

Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother, Tonya Couch, 48, were captured in the Mexican Pacific Coast city of Puerto Vallarta on Monday.

The official was not authorized to speak about the case and agreed to reveal the information only if not quoted by name.

Legal experts say Ethan Couch could argue that there was a flaw in his detention by Mexican immigration authorities. He remains in custody in Mexico.

Anderson noted that Ethan Couch’s hair was “markedly different”.

An official with Mexico’s Migration Institute told Associated Press reporter E. Eduardo Castillo on Wednesday that 18-year-old Ethan Couch won a three-day court injunction. Couch was transported to Mexico City, because the Mexico City facility for detaining migrants is larger and better equipped to hold someone for days or weeks, according to officials.

Hunter said both mother and son had filed separate writs of amparo, which sends the case to immigration court. “We’re hopeful that’s not the case”. It’s on their time schedule.

According to Hunter, the pair were detained after authorities in the United States passed on an address to immigration officials in Mexico.

Couch was declared officially missing December 10 when he did not appear at a mandatory meeting with his probation officer.

“It also depends on the fact the Couches have legal counsel. They were asked if they have proper documentation, they did not”.

Ethan Couch was taken to Mexico City late Wednesday, an official said.

Couch is likely to spend, weeks, if not months, as he appeals his deportation back to the United States.

Couch and his mother reportedly refused to show photo ID when checking in to the hotel, and paid $80 cash per night for the nine evenings of their stay.

Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said Tuesday that the Couches had prepared to be gone a while, even dyeing Couch’s blond hair black. Not me. Will it never end?

The Texas teenager who used an “affluenza” defense in a deadly drunken-driving wreck grew up in a wealthy yet unstable household where his parents underwent an acrimonious divorce, which included accusations that his… The pair did not resist arrest. Ethan Couch is two years into a 10-year probation term for a drunken driving crash that killed four people. Couch disappeared as authorities investigated whether he had violated the terms of his probation.

In Texas, prosecutors charged Tonya Couch with hindering apprehension of a felon.

Authorities say a teen fugitive known for using an “affluenza” defense and his mother are scheduled to depart for the US after a phone call for pizza led to their capture in Mexico. He said authorities have no evidence that Couch’s father was involved. If he violates probation again, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death, said Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson. “He is very appreciative of efforts by these and other agencies to safely locate his son”.

In the vehicle crash, Couch, then 16, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level of almost three times the legal limit when he lost control of his pickup truck and fatally struck a stranded motorist on the side of the road and three people who had stopped to help.