‘Affluenza’ Ethan Couch Moved To Adult Prison, Prosecutors Believe He’ll Do Jail Time [Breaking News]
In what feels like a long time coming, “affluenza teen” Ethan Couch was finally moved to an adult prison. He was secretly moved to a secure adult detention center Friday afternoon. Not even Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson knew about the move in advance. Ethan Couch is still being held without bond under juvenile court, but this seems like the first move towards moving the case to adult court.
According to the Inquisitr, residents of Tarrant County and MADD are firmly behind moving the Ethan Couch case out of juvenile court, as they are tired of the entire Couch family thumbing their noses at authorities. Ethan Couch’s mother, Tonya Couch, is under house arrest at her older son’s house awaiting her charges/trial for allegedly helping her son evade arrest and leave the country. The Couch family has been a legal scourge on the community with the perceived attitude that rules and laws don’t apply to them.
"Affluenza" teen Ethan Couch has been transferred from juvenile to adult jail, sheriff says https://t.co/MvQxokrSzr pic.twitter.com/IDO108l3lW
— CNN (@CNN) February 6, 2016
USA Today is reporting that Judge Tim Menikos, who originally sent Ethan Couch back to the juvenile facility, called the lawyers in, and changed his mind about where Couch will be housed without bail while awaiting his next hearing. Couch, who now no longer looks like the docile school boy that he resembled at trial, has an unkempt beard and bushy hair that is still dyed from the time he spent on the run in Mexico. Sheriff Dee Anderson seems happy with the move.
“He is still under all the juvenile law restrictions,” Anderson said during a press conference. “He is held without bond. He cannot post bond as a juvenile.”
Couch has been placed in solitary as a high-profile prisoner for his own safety. Couch is a small man, and likely would be a target in the general population.
“Obviously, the big concern with him is that someone in the jail inmate system might want to harm him,” Anderson said.
The sheriff thought it was time that Couch get a taste of what he is facing.
“He’s getting ready to be 19,” the sheriff said. “He’s an adult. He doesn’t need to be housed in a juvenile detention facility. That’s my opinion.”
The New York Post headlined with “affluenza twerp gets to go to big boy jail,” which mirrors what many people are thinking. It still isn’t clear why Judge Menikos had a change of heart, and the details are not yet available to the press.
‘Affluenza’ Ethan Couch’s Family Has A Long History Of Brushes With The Law https://t.co/NSW5rHvsH4 pic.twitter.com/uS4vmZNCHK
— The Inquisitr (@theinquisitr) February 3, 2016
The Canadian Broadcast Channel says that while Ethan Couch is behind bars, and Tonya Couch is on home detention, the family, who have a history of legal problems, is falling apart. Tonya Couch and her husband Fred Couch are in the process of a divorce, and for the first time, it seems that Tonya Couch’s access to funds is limited.
“‘He was placed in a single cell for his own protection,’ said Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson. No bond amount was listed on his online jail records, Reuters reported.”
At the end of February, Ethan Couch will have another hearing to decide if his case will be moved to adult court, as he will soon be 19. In the opinion of Sheriff Dee Anderson, and many residents of Tarrant County, Ethan Couch has yet to pay for the crime of killing four people and injuring more while drunk and on drugs.
Why do you think the judge changed his mind and sent Ethan Couch to an adult prison?
[Photo by Jalisco State Prosecutor’s Office/AP]
