'Affluenza' teen Ethan Couch detained in Mexico

[truth_seeker]

'Affluenza' teen Ethan Couch detained in Mexico

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/28/us/mexico-affluenza-teen-ethan-couch-detained/

By Evan Perez, CNN Justice Reporter   Updated 10:38 PM ET, Mon December 28, 2015

(CNN)—Mexican authorities have detained so-called "affluenza" teen Ethan Couch and his mother near the popular Mexican Pacific beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta, officials briefed on the matter told CNN.

Couch, 18, went missing earlier this month, two years after he made national news when he was sentenced to probation for a drunken driving crash that killed four people.

Couch is expected to be turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service, who have spent weeks searching for him. A spokesman for the service declined to comment.

He is wanted by authorities in Tarrant County, Texas, for allegedly violating probation. His mother was listed by Texas authorities as a missing person after her son's disappearance, and the authorities said they believed she was assisting her son.

A warrant had been issued for the teen to be taken into custody after his probation officer couldn't reach him earlier this month. His apparent disappearance came after a video allegedly showed him at a party where alcohol was being consumed, authorities said.

Word of the search for Couch has reignited controversy over the case, which drew widespread attention after a psychologist testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, suffered from "affluenza," describing him as a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him.

A warrant had been issued for the teen to be taken into custody after his probation officer couldn't reach him earlier this month. His apparent disappearance came after a video allegedly showed him at a party where alcohol was being consumed, authorities said.

Word of the search for Couch has reignited controversy over the case, which drew widespread attention after a psychologist testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, suffered from "affluenza," describing him as a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him.

snip

[PzLdr]

Put BOTH of them UNDER the jail.

[Sanguine]

Both of those "parents" are beyond strange.

[mountaineer]

Thank goodness. That little twerp needs some serious justice.

[EC]

I do rather hope the Marshalls are a little bit busy and can't pick him up from the Mexican jail for a while - say three or four years.

[DCPatriot]

Hope I'm not turning into a bleeding heart, but I do have sympathy for the mother.

She did what any mother would do...her first instinct was to protect her children. 

And yes, I realize it was her lack of supervision and discipline as a parent that brought this into their lives.

I'm not saying she should escape justice for aiding and abetting a fugitive....just saying that most mothers might have done the same if given the opportunity.

[Sanguine]

Hope I'm not turning into a bleeding heart, but I do have sympathy for the mother.

She did what any mother would do...her first instinct was to protect her children. 

And yes, I realize it was her lack of supervision and discipline as a parent that brought this into their lives.

I'm not saying she should escape justice for aiding and abetting a fugitive....just saying that most mothers might have done the same if given the opportunity.

Yes, DC, but we are people and do not act purely on instinct.  We are capable of reason and thought, and as loving, responsible parents, we frequently have to put aside our instincts and personal desires and just do the right thing for the child. 

We could spend a lot of time here talking about the things that make progressives and conservatives different, and one of the major ones is "going with one's feelings" vs. being thoughtful and logical. 

OK, off of my soapbox.  I haven't had enough coffee for it yet anyway.

[DCPatriot]

Yes, DC, but we are people and do not act purely on instinct.  We are capable of reason and thought, and as loving, responsible parents, we frequently have to put aside our instincts and personal desires and just do the right thing for the child. 

We could spend a lot of time here talking about the things that make progressives and conservatives different, and one of the major ones is "going with one's feelings" vs. being thoughtful and logical. 

OK, off of my soapbox.  I haven't had enough coffee for it yet anyway.

LOL!   I'm on my 2nd cup....., er...mug. 

Nobody wants to see her son in a prison atmosphere for a 'lapse in judgment'.  Especially a slender, frail one.

It's not like he purposely drove up on the sidewalk to mow people down like the black woman did last week. 

edited to add:  His attorney should go to jail for proffering an alibi that he was too affluent to know the difference between right and wrong.  LOL!

[Bigun]

Hope I'm not turning into a bleeding heart, but I do have sympathy for the mother.

She did what any mother would do...her first instinct was to protect her children. 

And yes, I realize it was her lack of supervision and discipline as a parent that brought this into their lives.

I'm not saying she should escape justice for aiding and abetting a fugitive....just saying that most mothers might have done the same if given the opportunity.

I don't have the least bit of sympathy for either one of them! Not a bit!

They are a symptom of what is wrong with this country!

[mountaineer]

Affluenza jerk couldn’t afford strip club bill, crawled to mommy
By Sophia Rosenbaum
January 1, 2016 | 5:39am
NY Post

The “affluenza” brat partied a little too hard at a strip club in Mexico while on the lam — and needed Mommy’s help to foot the bill.

Ethan Couch, 18, typically stayed inside his room at Los Tules, a resort in Puerto Vallarta, but one night, he decided to hit a gentleman’s club.

Hours later, he was escorted back to the lobby of the resort flanked by two bouncers from the club after he couldn’t pay his big bill.

Hotel workers had to go get his mom, Tonya, who was sleeping upstairs.

“He didn’t have enough money to pay the bar bill, and his mother had to bail him out,” hotel worker Marina Meza told The Dallas Morning News.

Meza added that she sensed something “odd” about the mother-son duo, who refused to complete hotel paperwork that required photo IDs and who paid the nightly fee of $80 in cash.

The Couches stayed in the room for nine days with their dog and “seemed like normal people, perhaps a bit too private,” Meza said.

After the two were arrested Monday, hotel workers found a large-caliber revolver that they said the Couches brought with them, according to ABC News.

Meanwhile, Tonya arrived back on US soil early Thursday, touching down at Los Angeles International Airport looking haggard in a navy-blue sun dress. She looked down, with her hands shackled behind her, as two US Marshals escorted her to an unmarked car.
 
As of Thursday night, she was being held in LA after Texas authorities charged her with hindering the apprehension of a felon and set her bail at $1 million.

Notably absent from her side was her son, who won a three-day injunction Wednesday in Mexico after he was arrested following a weeks-long manhunt that ended Monday.

Texas officials are anxious to get him back in the United States, hoping they can upgrade his case to adult court so he will face more charges after violating his parole following a 2013 DWI crash in which he killed four people.

Couch, who was 16 at the time of the crash, infamously was given a slap-on-the-wrist punishment of 10 years’ probation after claiming he suffered from “affluenza” — the alleged inability to understand the consequences of his actions because of his privileged upbringing.

[rangerrebew]

'Affluenza' Teen Drops Mexico Appeal, Returns in 1 or 2 Days

    By mark stevenson, associated press

MEXICO CITY — Jan 26, 2016, 5:56 PM ET
 
The Mexican lawyer for a Texas teenager who used an "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving accident says his client has dropped an appeal against deportation and will return to Texas to face charges in the coming days.

Attorney Fernando Benitez said Tuesday that Ethan Couch formally ratified his decision to drop the appeal on Monday.

"I gave him several options, but he decided to go to Texas to face whatever charges he faces," Benitez.

The appeal had led to a court injunction against Mexico's original decision to deport Couch. Since then, he has been held at an immigration detention center on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Benitez expects a judge to close the case Tuesday, noting that would clear the way for Couch to return to Texas in one or two days.

"I have people at the courthouse ... waiting for notification that the appeal has formally been dropped," Benitez said. "Once the injunction is removed, they will deport Ethan in 24 or 48 hours.

He said Couch had decided not to continue with the constitutional appeal after "he reviewed the basis of the appeal in Mexico," and because "it was in his interest" to do so.

Couch and his mother, Tonya Couch, were detained in the resort of Puerto Vallarta in December. His mother was quickly sent back to the U.S. She was released after posting bail.

Her arrest affidavit alleges that she and her 18-year-old son fled the state in December as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation in the case of a 2013 wreck that killed four people. Mother and son were taken into custody later that month in Puerto Vallarta, after a call for pizza delivery tipped off authorities to their whereabouts.

Tonya Couch is charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

During Ethan Couch's trial, a defense witness said the teen was coddled into a sense of irresponsibility by his wealthy parents, a condition the expert called "affluenza." The condition is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and its invocation drew widespread ridicule.

Upon his return to Texas, Ethan Couch will be held in a juvenile detention center. A juvenile judge will hold a hearing to decide whether to continue to hold him there, book him in an adult jail or let him go, said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson.

A separate hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19 to determine whether Couch's case is transferred to the adult system. If it is transferred and Couch violates his probation again, he could face up to 10 years in prison per death.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/affluenza-teen-drops-mexico-appeal-returns-days-36528428

[mountaineer]

I'm guessing he has a glorious future of appearing before judges in criminal court.

‘Affluenza teen’ Ethan Couch ordered to serve nearly two years in jail
By Elahe Izadi and Lindsey Bever April 13 at 2:52 PM
Washington Post

Ethan Couch, the Texas teenager whose “affluenza” defense in a fatal drunk-driving crash prompted national outrage, will remain in jail for nearly two years, the Associated Press reported.

“You’re not getting out of jail today,” state District Judge Wayne Salvant told Couch on Wednesday, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Salvant said that for now, he was ordering Couch to serve 180 consecutive days in jail for each of his four counts of intoxication manslaughter, the newspaper reported. The judge may revise the sentence in a few weeks after reviewing prosecutors’ and defense attorneys’ recommendations, he said.

The charges stem from a 2013 drunk-driving crash that left four dead. At the time, Couch was a juvenile and was sentenced to probation.

Couch turned 19 this week; this is his first time appearing in adult court.

A psychologist who testified in Couch’s defense argued during his trial that the teen was a victim of “affluenza” — his wealthy upbringing made him unaware and ignorant of the consequences of such actions.

Couch became the subject of an international manhunt last year when he left the country, in violation of his probation. Both he and his mother were found in Mexico.

His mother, Tonya Couch, has been charged with hindering apprehension of a felon.

In June 2013, Couch, then 16, crashed his pickup truck at more than 65 mph into a group of people who had stopped to help a stranded motorist. The motorist was killed, as was a youth minister who had stopped to help and a mother and daughter who had emerged from their nearby home, according to the Associated Press.

Two teens who were in Couch’s truck were seriously injured.

Authorities said his blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit and that he had traces of Valium in his system. Couch pleaded guilty to manslaughter and assault while intoxicated.

He was initially tried in juvenile court, where he was sentenced to 10 years of drug-and-alcohol-free probation — triggering widespread outrage.

His family is reported to be worth millions, thanks in part to a booming sheet metal business. It’s their success — and the way they have handled it — that Couch’s attorneys said contributed to his reckless behavior.

[flowers]

I'm guessing he has a glorious future of appearing before judges in criminal court.

The judge may revise the sentence in a few weeks after reviewing prosecutors’ and defense attorneys’ recommendations, he said.

  hopefully it won't be less time and more time.

[Wingnut]

That little piece of human waste lived in Burleson just south of me.  We saw the daily circus they called a trail  played out on the local nightly news. 

I hope he makes his cell mate a fine wife.

[mountaineer]

Unless this little piece of dirt receives a life changing revelation while in the pokey, he'll probably be back in criminal court within a couple of months of his release.

[musiclady]

I don't have the least bit of sympathy for either one of them! Not a bit!

They are a symptom of what is wrong with this country!

Completely agree.  Albeit just one of many symptoms, but the overindulgence of kids' (at least up to age 30) is a huge part of what's wrong in America.  No responsibilities.  No maturity.  No conscience because they don't know right from wrong.

I'm not sure there are enough well raised kids to counter the damage being done by both parents and their lawless offspring.