"Affluenza" defendant Ethan Couch violates probation, flees

[His Divine Shadow]

Ending the year on a high note at least.

[Thanas]

Taking bets on him facing the full sentence in prison.....

[Broomstick]

If he does not care for the American prison system he is welcome to sample the Mexican one as far as I'm concerned, but either way I think it's time for him to face a period behind bars.

[Mr Bean]

Taking bets on him facing the full sentence in prison.....

He violated probation the chances of him facing a full prison sentence are excellent.

[Thanas]

I really hope so.

[Borgholio]

Taking bets on him facing the full sentence in prison.....

I'm not holding my breath...being rich got him off once already from something far worse. However in this case, he is confirmed to have willfully violated probation at least twice (leaving the country, failing to check in), possibly three times (video of the drinking party). Also his mother can be charged with aiding him in violating probation which could land her behind bars too. All in all, if they were poor...they'd be screwed. I just hope this judge has more sense than the last one.

[Tribble]

Taking bets on him facing the full sentence in prison.....

I'm not holding my breath...being rich got him off once already from something far worse. However in this case, he is confirmed to have willfully violated probation at least twice (leaving the country, failing to check in), possibly three times (video of the drinking party). Also his mother can be charged with aiding him in violating probation which could land her behind bars too. All in all, if they were poor...they'd be screwed. I just hope this judge has more sense than the last one.

Ah, but that was all due to his affluenza kicking in...

[His Divine Shadow]

This whole escaping the country thing might just be a blessing in disguise. Or if they let him off with a slap on the wrist, some actual protests.

[Broomstick]

No doubt they went to Mexico thinking they'd be safe there, but just because Mexico doesn't have to cooperate with the US doesn't mean they won't. Apparently, they don't want his worthless ass hanging around either. Mexico has announced they were arrested for being in Mexico illegally (damn illegals!) and will be sent back to the US.

[Ralin]

I'm not holding my breath...being rich got him off once already from something far worse. ... I just hope this judge has more sense than the last one.

Judges really, really don't like people who openly refuse to respect their authori-tai. Unless the family is straight up paying off whoever ends up making the decision I doubt they'll avoid jail time. And even then it would have to be a lot.

[TheFeniX]

Taking bets on him facing the full sentence in prison.....

I'm not holding my breath...being rich got him off once already from something far worse. However in this case, he is confirmed to have willfully violated probation at least twice (leaving the country, failing to check in), possibly three times (video of the drinking party). Also his mother can be charged with aiding him in violating probation which could land her behind bars too. All in all, if they were poor...they'd be screwed. I just hope this judge has more sense than the last one.

He's 18 now I think. There's not going to be any juvenille system with a singular judge. He'll have to face a jury of his peers or plead out. Considering the evidence and public opinion against him: doubtful he can dodge a lengthy sentence unless the defense can argue he will be unable to receive a fair trial and just keep things in limbo while he rides out his time on bail. If there's any justice, the judge would decline bail as it's obvious he's a flight risk.

The mom might fair better if she gets enough hearts to bleed on the jury.

[Mr Bean]

Okay, come on now people stop the cynicism, he was found guilty and give a ten year suspended sentence. He violated his probation in at least three possibly four ways. He's going to jail for ten years, there's no second trial, he violated probation he's going to be returned to the US and assigned a prison to start serving his sentence, all that's waiting is the hearing saying he officially violated his parole, once that's happened he's in jail.

And given he
A.Violated the terms of his parole
B. Failed to report to check in
C. Failed to turn himself into police when ordered
D. Fled across both state and national bounds

No lawyer no matter how magic will get him out of that because A remains true even if he claims his mother kidnapped him or something equally nutty.

[Pelranius]

I'm not holding my breath...being rich got him off once already from something far worse. ... I just hope this judge has more sense than the last one.

Judges really, really don't like people who openly refuse to respect their authori-tai. Unless the family is straight up paying off whoever ends up making the decision I doubt they'll avoid jail time. And even then it would have to be a lot.

Texan judges really don't like people, no matter how rich (well maybe if you're Walton or Koch levels of money), laugh at their authority, which essentially is what Couch and his mom did.

I suppose, Ms. Couch could try to take a plea deal to spare Ethan prison time, but no self respecting judge or DA anywhere in the 50 states would take or offer that.

[Borgholio]

Mother has been deported back to the US and is in custody with $1 million bail. Ethan is still being held in Mexico for some reason, but it's possible he may only face 120 days behind bars if he is returned to the US.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/31/us/afflue ... VODtopLink

[Gaidin]

They basically have to convince the courts to knock it up to adult court. Who knows.

[Pelranius]

The bizarre thing is that even if the probation officer could prove that Ethan was drinking at the party, he probably wouldn't have gotten any jail time (or a weekend at most), since most judges are pretty lenient with first time probation violations of that nature.

[Gaidin]

Not sure that's really the hard part insofar as knocking it up to adult court. They ran to god damn mexico.

[Borgholio]

Yeah the whole fleeing the country thing just made it worse. Kinda like if you get pulled over for a minor speeding ticket but you try to run away instead.

[Broomstick]

Given that the mom had left the country I'm surprised bail was an option at all - they usually don't offer it to "flight risk" people.

[Ralin]

Given that the mom had left the country I'm surprised bail was an option at all - they usually don't offer it to "flight risk" people.

I'm sure Tarrant County can use an extra million dollars in their budget if she does.

I'm a little unclear on exactly how rich this family is though.

[Napoleon the Clown]

They basically have to convince the courts to knock it up to adult court. Who knows.

Isn't he 18 now? If so, no need to "knock it up" to adult court. 18 is an adult, in the eyes of the law.

[Gaidin]

They basically have to convince the courts to knock it up to adult court. Who knows.

Isn't he 18 now? If so, no need to "knock it up" to adult court. 18 is an adult, in the eyes of the law.

The case was juvie. That's why the question is whether he gets less than 100 days in prison or whether they can make the argument well enough to knock it up to adult court by the time Mexico lets him back. There's a..uh...reason they're stalling.

[Thanas]

Given that the mom had left the country I'm surprised bail was an option at all - they usually don't offer it to "flight risk" people.

I'm sure Tarrant County can use an extra million dollars in their budget if she does.

I'm a little unclear on exactly how rich this family is though.

Rich enough to give their 16yo a huge mansion for party purposes only.

[Flagg]

He won't face his full sentence because it was a juvenile conviction and even if they manage to get him moved to adult court which is a big IF, I'm hearing something like 4 months. Momma, however, is a very different story.

[Borgholio]

Update - the kid's lawyer has stopped fighting deportation. He is now in Dallas and in custody.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/28/americas/ ... d=20747672

(CNN)Ethan Couch, the "affluenza" teen convicted in a fatal 2013 drunken-driving accident and who was taken into custody last month in Mexico, is headed back to the United States, Mexico's National Institute of Migration said Thursday.

He departed Mexico City International Airport on Thursday morning, en route to Dallas. He will be received by U.S. authorities and is expected to face charges in the U.S., the institute said.

Texas authorities have expressed outrage that Couch, who got sentenced to 10 years probation but no jail time, had gone AWOL.

The 18-year-old fought his extradition in Mexican courts after he and his mother were nabbed in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta on December 28, weeks after his probation officer last made contact with him.

But on January 19, his lawyer Scott Brown told reporters that his Mexican counterpart filed a document that would "release an injunction and let the (transfer) process go forward."

Tonya Couch, the teenager's mother who was charged with hindering the apprehension of a felon, returned to the United States after the pair's capture -- first to Los Angeles and then to the family's home state of Texas. She was released from jail on January 12 after posting $75,000 bond, CNN affiliate KTVT reported.