Couch will remain in jail for now in solitary confinement, Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said. That will happen sometime before his 19 birthday in April.
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Shaw added that he believes the judge shouldn’t credit Couch with jail time already served as a juvenile.
Attorneys on both sides said they expected Couch to be transferred to adult court.
Alcohol appeared to have fueled Couch’s night – a clear violation of his probation – and prosecutors have been examining the video ever since.
Couch was sentenced to 10 years probation, during which he was to remain alcohol- and drug-free.
Ethan Couch is now an adult – at least in the eyes of the law.
“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.
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.
Friday, a Texas judge said the case will be moved from juvenile to adult court, meaning Couch could face up to 120 days in jail, before finishing his previous sentence of ten years probation. And The Associated Press reports that now, “if he violates his probation during that time, he could get up to 10 years in prison for each of the four people killed in the accident”.
Ethan Couch’s father, Fred Couch, declined to comment as he left the courthouse Friday.
Ethan Couch, 18, appeared in court Friday in Fort Worth.
The mysterious malady of “affluenza” might not help in adult court next time around. Consuming alcohol would break the terms of his probation.
Before the hearing, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) President Colleen Sheehey-Church spoke to reporters outside the courthouse.
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The mother and son were eventually apprehended in the resort city of Puerto Vallarta, and were extradited back to the United States. Eighteen-year-old Ethan Couch, also known as the “affluenza teen”, could be eligible for release on bond. The sentence Couch received two years ago was a joke, and it’s more than overdue for the criminal justice system to replace his privilege with prison.
