Texas 'affluenza' teen files papers to delay his extradition from Mexico to the US
Screenshot Via ABC News
FORT WORTH (Reuters) - A Texan teenager from a wealthy family who fled to Mexico with his mother in likely violation of a probation deal that kept him out of prison for a fatal drunken-driving crash has filed papers to delay his extradition, a Tarrant County legal source said.
Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother, 48-year-old Tonya Couch, had been due to be flown on Wednesday back to Houston from Mexico, accompanied by U.S. Marshals. They were captured in the Pacific Coast beach city of Puerto Vallarta on Monday.
Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said he was told by U.S. Marshals that an attorney representing the Couches filed a “legal writ,” to prevent the pair from leaving Mexico, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
The sheriff and the attorneys were not immediately available for comment.
Ethan Couch became known as the "affluenza" teen during his trial in juvenile court over the 2013 crash that killed four people. A psychologist testifying on his behalf said he was afflicted with "affluenza," a condition where he was so spoiled that he could not tell the difference between right and wrong.
The diagnosis is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association and the term was widely ridiculed at the time. Couch was convicted on four counts of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years of drink and drug-free probation, which critics saw as leniency won due to his family's wealth. His escape to Mexico rekindled anger over the sentence.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram quoted Sheriff Anderson as saying, “They’re trying to fight being brought back somehow."
"It’s just a continuing string of what we’ve seen all along. We're patient people. We’ll be waiting.”
Screenshot Via ABC NewsNBC News said the return could be delayed by two weeks.
The pair fled the country this month after a video surfaced online apparently showing Ethan Couch at a party where beer was being consumed. Authorities then launched a probe into a possible parole violation, law enforcement officials said.
The two were tracked down and caught in Puerto Vallarta. Mexican authorities said they had been working with the U.S. Marshals Service since Dec. 24 to locate the pair.
When they arrived back in the United States, Couch would appear in juvenile court and his mother would be arrested for hindering an apprehension, Anderson said.
Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson said she expected the judge to hold Couch after his juvenile hearing. County prosecutors have been working for months to move his case into the adult system.
In the car crash, Couch, then 16, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level of nearly three times the legal limit when he lost control of his pickup truck and fatally struck a stranded motorist on the side of the road and three people who had stopped to help.
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