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"Affluenza" teen transferred to adult jail in Texas

Xinhua, February 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

The "affluenza" teen, whose attorney used the teen's wealthy background to defend his deadly drunk-driving, was moved on Friday from a juvenile detention facility to an adult jail in northern Texas, a local television station reported.

Tarrant County police confirmed the transfer of 18-year-old Ethan Couch to an adult jail, saying juvenile court Judge Timothy Menikos signed an order Friday morning to shift Couch to the adult jail in Fort Worth City in the northern part of the southern U.S. state of Texas.

Couch had changed his civilian clothes to a jail suit issued by the adult jail, according to local TV station ABC13.

"He is getting ready to be 19 years old. He's an adult. He doesn't need to be housed with juveniles," Sheriff Dee Anderson said.

A hearing will be held on Feb. 12 to determine if Couch will remain in the jail, and on Feb. 19, Judge Menikos is scheduled to hear arguments about shifting Couch's case to adult court, where prosecutors said Couch would face harsh punishment if he violated his probation again.

In 2013, Couch was put on probation after killing four people while driving drunk at the age of 16. Couch and his mother Tonya Couch were apprehended in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Dec. 28 following an international manhunt after he allegedly failed to appear at a court-mandated meeting with a probation officer.

Mexican immigration agents put Couch on a commercial plane bound for Texas on Feb. 28, 2015.

The term "affluenza" derived from Couch's attorney's defense that Couch had been coddled while growing up in a wealthy household and had diminished responsibility for his actions, but the term was not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association. Endi