Follow @KonnieMoments1
'You're not getting out of jail today!' Judge orders to Ethan Couch
...will spend 180 days in jail for each of the 4 lives he was 'affluenzed' to take
Texas
teenager Ethan Couch, who killed four people and injured nine in a
drunk driving crash, will spend another two years in jail
Couch, who turned 19 on Monday, appeared before a judge as an adult on Wednesday to hear the new details of his probation
Judge Wayne Salvant did an about-face after he told Couch he was going
to delay the decision about how long he would remain in jail
The sentence was greeted with visible satisfaction from family members of Couch's victims
Couch will now head straight back to the nearby Lon Evans Correctional Center - the maximum security lock-up
The Texas teenager who killed four people and injured nine in a drunk driving crash and then avoided jail will by running off to Mexico will spend another two years in jail as he faced justice for the first time as an adult.
Affluenza teen Ethan Couch, who turned 19 on Monday, appeared in adult court on Wednesday where State District Judge Wayne Salvant said he will review recommendations from prosecutors as well as Couch's attorney.
'You're not getting out of jail today,' Salvant told the bearded Couch in the courtroom. Couch wore a red prison jump suit and had a shaggy hair cut.
Couch was sentenced to 720 days of custody comprised of four consecutive terms of 180 days – one for each of the four lives he horrifically snuffed out in a 2013 drunk driving crash.
The coddled DW killer turned 19 Monday inside the maximum security jail where he has spent the past three months languishing in solitary confinement. The birthday meant Couch was no longer a juvenile and faced a far harsher punishment for breaching his paroleby attending a boozy party and fleeing to Mexico. Couch will now head straight back to the nearby Lon Evans Correctional Center - the maximum security lock-up
Today the teen runaway got his first taste of adult justice when he was hauled before Judge Salvant and hit with the massive extra punishment. Judge Salvant indicated that he could review that decision at another hearing two weeks from now when he has more information from prosecutors and Couch's attorneys. But he warned Couch: ‘Until we make that decision you will remain in the county jail at this time. You are not getting out of jail.’
Lawyers spent much of the 90 minute hearing at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth arguing whether the judge had the power to impose such a harsh penalty.
Couch’s attorneys argued for his immediate release but Tarrant County Prosecutor Riley Shaw said that the ‘myth’ that Couch was a juvenile deserving of preferential treatment ended Monday.
'Nothing I do is in stone, so I might reconsider,' Judge Salvant told both parties during the sometimes-heated legal exchange.
Couch's hearing at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth
Ethan's father Fred Couch (left) and half-brother Steven McWilliams
enter court for Ethan Couch's hearing at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice
Center in Fort Worth
Ethan Couch sister-in-law
Couch's sister-in-law Misty and brother Steven arrive at court for the hearing today
The
sentence was greeted with visible satisfaction from family members of
Couch's victims who looked on silently inside Courtroom Two while he
learnt his fate.They included Alex Lemus, the brother of Sergio Molina - a one-time best friend of Couch who was left needing round the clock care for the rest of his life following the 70mph horror smash.
To their relief, Couch will now head straight back to the nearby Lon Evans Correctional Center - the maximum security lock-up where he has been languishing in solitary confinement for his own safety.
The bearded teenager had cut a drawn, anxious figure as he was led into Courtroom Two shortly before 10am, wearing a prison-issue red jumpsuit over a grey t-shirt.
He showed little emotion and replied ‘yes, your honor’ after Judge Salvant asked if he understood why he was now in adult court.
When he is eventually released, Couch's probation restrictions will remain 'consistent' with those he faced as a juvenile, the judge ruled.
Tragic victims Breanna Mitchell (top left), Brian Jennings (right) Hollie Boyles (bottom left) and daughter Shelby Boyles all died in the horrific card crash caused by Ethan Couch in 2013
Tragic victims Breanna Mitchell (top left), Brian Jennings (right)
Hollie Boyles (bottom left) and daughter Shelby Boyles all died in the
horrific card crash caused by Ethan Couch in 2013
Scene: Couch's parents, whose wealth was used as part of his affluenza
defense in the deadly crash (above), said they could not afford the
rehab and paid just $1,170 a month
They include banning him from
driving or being around alcohol, pot or other controlled substances. He
will also have to hold down a job and meet regularly with a community
supervision officer. Couch had been brought into the court complex
through an internal walkway linking it to the jail. He was led away the
same way, staring down at his feet in silence as he contemplated the
likelihood of two more years under lock and key.His father Fred, sat stony-faced throughout the proceedings and refused to talk with the media afterwards.
Couch's half-brother Steven McWilliams, 29, and his wife Misty, 29, were also in court to support him but his mom Tonya, 48, remains on house arrest for her part in allegedly helping him flee to Mexico.
Her son was just 16 when he got behind the wheel of his father's F-150 truck with three times the legal limit for alcohol in his blood.
He smashed into a stationary white Mercedes SUV at 70mph, killing the driver, Breanna Mitchell, along with mother and daughter Holly and Shelby Boyles and pastor Brian Jennings, who were all trying to help Mitchell get her car going.
Executive
direct of Mothers Against Drunk Driving North Texas, Jason Derscheid,
speaks with members of the media after Ethan Couch's hearing at the Tim
Curry Criminal Justice Center
Couch became notorious
when a psychologist told his trial he couldn't be held responsible for
his actions because he suffered from 'affluenza' – an affliction
supposedly born of his privileged yet dysfunctional upbringing.He was initially sentenced to 10 years’ probation and a year of court-ordered rehab, which it has since been revealed to have cost taxpayers $200,000 because his parents could not afford to pay.
Couch ran into problems, however, when a video surfaced online of him attending a boozy beer pong party - a clear probation violation.
He fled to Mexico with his mother in November rather than face the courts.
Tonya Couch allegedly withdrew $30,000 from her bank and called estranged husband Fred to tell him that he would never see either of them again.
The mother and son then drove 1,200 miles to the Pacific beach resort of Puerto Vallarta where they stayed at the glamorous Los Tules resort.
Pricey: Ethan Couch's court-ordered rehab as part of his sentence for
killing four people in a drunk-driving cash in 2013 cost taxpayers
$200,000 (above in February)
Ethan Couch
Troubled: Couch, who turned 19 on Monday, will appear before a judge as
an adult on Wednesday to hear the new details of his probation (2013
mugshot on left, 2016 mugshot on right)
While there,
Couch made repeat visits to a 'sex club' called Harem where he was
allegedly spotted snorting cocaine and guzzling Pacifico beers - running
up a $2,000 tab which he was forced to ask his mother to settle. The
two later moved to a run-down apartment four blocks from the beach but
were discovered after a signal from one of their cellphones alerted
authorities as they dialed out for Domino's pizza.Both initially contested their extradition from Mexico but Tonya was returned to the US in early January with Couch following on the 28th.
Since her return, Tonya has been held under house arrest at the Fort Worth home of eldest son Steven McWilliams, 29. She faces being sentenced to ten years in prison for hindering apprehension of a fugitive, with Judge Salvant also overseeing her case.
Couch, meanwhile, was held briefly in a juvenile facility before being transferred to the 444-bed Lon Evans Correctional Center, where he has been housed in either a solitary confinement or separation cell.
Authorities fear the slightly-build prisoner - number 0879903 - is so feeble he will be unable to defend himself if he is attacked by an inmate seeking fame or notoriety.
The jail, which opened in 2012, houses those deemed the worst of the worst of the 3,600 people either awaiting trial in Tarrant County or whose sentences don't warrant them being moved to a state prison.
Daily Mail Online previously revealed how Couch whiled away his hours working out to Richard Simmons exercise tapes and was fed three basic meals a day, slid into his cell through a 'bean chute'. His father is also embroiled in an unrelated case after he was accused of impersonating a police officer.
He was initially sentenced to 10 years probation and a year of court-ordered rehab, which it has now been revealed cost taxpayers $200,000 because his parents could not afford to pay.
Couch finished in February 2015 and went on the run just months later in December, shortly after video emerged of him at a party surrounded by alcohol.
He was not allowed to drink as part of his probation.
The Star-Telegram reports that Couch's stay at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon cost approximately $20,000 a month, and that he was there for 10 months in 2014 from February through November. His parents were only forced to pay $1,170 of that amount, claiming they could not afford the cost.
He then received treatment at The Next Step Program in Amarillo which cost a total of $11,000, which the court ordered his parents to pay.
Since her return from Mexico with her son, Tonya Couch has been held under house arrest at the Fort Worth home of eldest son Steven McWilli
He was released from that program in February 2015, and on December 2 video emerged of him at a beer pong table. Couch was reported missing just days later when he missed a probation hearing. He was captured with his mother on December 28 in Puerto Vallarta. Tonya did not attempt to fight deportation and within days was back in Texas where she posted bail of $75,000 and is now awaiting trial for hindering the apprehension of a felon. Meanwhile, Couch launched an appeal against deportation and stayed in Mexico for over a month after being captured in December.
He eventually dropped and his attorney, Scott Brown, hinted that Couch could have been taken to Mexico against his will. Couch did not appear to be being held unlawfully when he was captured and was caught after using a credit card to order pizza. It later emerged that he had been to a strip club while he was on the run with his mother and spent $2,000 on a single night.
Tonya Couch faces up to 10 years in prison for helping her son flee to Mexico.
Couch was 16 and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit for adult drivers when he swerved off a road near Fort Worth and hit a disabled car, killing its driver and three people helping her. Several other people were injured.
Breanna Mitchell, 18, had broken down at the side of a highway in Texas and was trying to fix her vehicle alongside Hollie Boyles and her daughter Shelby, who lived nearby, and youth minister Brian Jennings, who had also stopped to help.
Couch left the road while traveling at 70mph and hit the group, killing all of them, and paralyzing friend Sergio Molina from the neck down after he was thrown clear of the truck.
Couch was sentenced only to probation for the accident in juvenile court. During the sentencing phase in the trial, a defense expert invoked the term 'affluenza' when arguing that Couch's parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility
No comments:
Post a Comment