FORT WORTH, Texas—A teenage fugitive who’s known for using an “affluenza” defense at his trial for causing a deadly drunken car crash has won an injunction to stay in Mexico, but legal experts say any argument that his human rights have been infringed upon likely won’t hold up.
Ethan Couch, 18, and his mother, Tonya Couch, were taken into custody last week in the Pacific resort city of Puerto Vallarta, where authorities believe they fled in November as Texas prosecutors investigated whether he had violated the terms of his probation.
Ethan Couch was driving drunk and speeding near Fort Worth in June 2013 when he crashed into a disabled SUV, killing four people and injuring several others, including passengers in his pickup truck. He pleaded guilty in juvenile court to four counts of intoxication manslaughter and two counts of intoxication assault causing serious bodily injury and was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.
The Couches fled shortly after a video surfaced in November that appears to show Ethan Couch at a party where people were drinking.
Couch is being held at an immigration detention center in Mexico City. His mother, meanwhile, awaits transfer to Texas from Los Angeles, where on Tuesday she waived her right to an extradition hearing.