The son of millionaire parents Tonya and Fred Couch accidentally killed four people back in 2013 while drunk driving his pickup truck and crashing into an SUV in Forth Worth, Texas, per the New York Post.
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Prosecutors and the local sheriff wanted Couch moved to an adult jail.
The terms of that probation prohibit him from drinking or leaving Tarrant County in Texas. He was deported Thursday.
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 Friday. The adult probation system would bring tighter supervision for Couch moving forward.
Couch and his mother left the country last month as an investigation was launched into whether he violated probation for the 2013 drunken driving wreck that killed four people.
The hearing marked the first time Couch appeared in court since being deported from Mexico on Thursday.
During the Friday detention hearing, the judge could decide to either move Couch to adult jail, since he is now 18 years old, or keep him in juvenile custody.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson, speaking outside the juvenile facility in Fort Worth, said: “We’ve reached a great milestone”.
He also faces a hearing on 19 February to determine whether his case will be transferred to the adult system.
Anderson says he wants Couch held at an adult jail because of his age and the severity of his offenses.
December 10, 2015 Ethan Couch, who is now 18, misses a mandatory appointment with his probation officer.
“Affluenza” teenager Ethan Couch has arrived in Texas after being deported from Mexico.
During Ethan’s sentencing in the drunken-driving trial, a psychologist hired by the defense testified that the teen was a product of “affluenza” – a term he used to describe Ethan’s irresponsible lifestyle associated with his affluent upbringing.
The teenager known for using an “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck was returned to Texas this week following his deportation from Mexico. Couch was 16 at the time of the fatal accident, so the case is being handled for now in juvenile court. Couch was escorted onto a commercial plane, en route to Dallas, Thursday morning.
Authorities say Couch and his mother fled to Mexico last month, as Texas as prosecutors investigated whether he may have violated his probation in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck that killed four people.
He formally ratified his decision to drop an appeal against deportation on Monday.
Couch and his mother were apprehended after they used a cell phone to order a pizza.
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