Teenager from Texas who used "affluenza" defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck will have a court appearance in an adult court Wednesday. A judge ruled on February that the case of the teenager will be held on the said court.
Ethan Couch, who celebrated his 19th birthday on Monday, will have his case to be transferred to an adult court, where a Fort Worth judge could sentence him further jail time, as part of the agreement of his adult probation, according to ABC News.
Court officials as well as the prosecutors refuse to reveal the nature of the court hearing as the judge ordered not to discuss the case in the public. The defendant was given a 10 years probation in juvenile court after a drunken-driving wreck incident that killed four people and severely injuring two people in June 2013.
On his court proceeding on a juvenile court, a defense expert invoked the term "affluenza" while arguing Couch's wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility, WQAD8 reported. He was later transferred to a juvenile center after he was deported last month from Mexico.
The Daily Mail also reported, as he will appear on an adult court, terms for his probation will be renewed, in which it could take 180 days in prison. He was also ordered by the court to enter a rehab, which it has been now disclosed cost taxpayers funded $200,000 after his parents admit, they could not pay for it.
The teen finished his probation on February last year and later on hide from the authorities in December after a video circulated, showing he was apparently at a party with alcohol around him. Couch is prohibited from alcohol as one of the terms on his probation.
When the December video of Couch at a party surfaced online, authorities say Couch's mother, Tonya, arranged for the two of them to flee to Mexico. They were found a few weeks later in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta.
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