‘Affluenza’ teen to stay in Texas juvenile detention center
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas judge ruled on Friday that America's so-called "affluenza" teenager should remain in custody for now at a juvenile detention center in Fort Worth, where he has been held since he was deported from Mexico on Thursday.
Ethan Couch, 18, fled to Mexico last month with his mother after he apparently violated the probation deal reached in juvenile court that kept him out of prison for killing four people while driving drunk in 2013.
Judge Timothy Menikos said he was considering a move to an adult prison for Couch. If that happens, he could be eligible for release on bail, court officials have said, adding that the bail option was not available to him in the juvenile system.
Couch faces a hearing on Feb. 19 to determine if his entire case will move to the adult system.
"Ethan Couch is locked up," Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson told reporters after the hearing. She added that her office will do everything in its power to hold him accountable for what he has done.
A lawyer for Couch said he feels remorse for what he has done and will abide by the terms of his probation.
"Of course Ethan is sorry," the lawyer, Scott Brown told reporters.
Couch fled to Mexico after a video emerged on social media that appeared to show him at a party where alcohol was being consumed.
Couch was 16 when he was tried as a juvenile. A psychiatrist testifying on his behalf said he had "affluenza," arguing that his family's wealth had left him so spoiled that it impaired his ability to tell right from wrong.
The affluenza diagnosis, not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, was widely ridiculed.
If he is found to have violated the probation deal, Couch faces about four months behind bars. His mother, Tonya Couch, faces up to 10 years in prison for helping her son flee to Mexico.
Couch was sentenced in Tarrant County to 10 years of drug-and-alcohol-free probation for intoxication manslaughter, a punishment condemned by critics as privilege rewarded with leniency.
At the time of the deadly crash, Couch had a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times beyond the legal limit when he was speeding and lost control of his pickup truck.
