Judge transfers ‘affluenza teen’ Ethan Couch to adult court

In a brief, crowded hearing Friday morning, a state district judge transferred Ethan Couch’s juvenile probation case to the adult court system.

Couch, 18, will be randomly assigned to an adult district judge and given a fresh set of probation conditions by his 19th birthday in April. One condition could include a jail sentence of 120 to 180 days.

Couch is serving 10 years of probation imposed in juvenile court for a 2013 drunken-driving wreck that killed four people. With his case transferred to adult court, his probation is set to expire in February 2024.

Couch fled with his mother to Mexico in December and was returned to Fort Worth two months later. He has been held in the Tarrant County’s Lon Evans Correctional Facility, a maximum-security adult jail, since Feb. 5.

He was sentenced to probation in 2014 by state District Judge Jean Boyd, who retired that year.

Her replacement in the 323rd District Court, Judge Tim Menikos, made the ruling Friday.

Still in adult jail

Menikos also ordered officials to keep Couch in the adult jail.

Couch’s detention can be reviewed by Menikos every 10 days, but Couch is expected to waive those reviews, meaning he’ll likely stay in adult jail until April, a district attorney’s office spokeswoman said.

“He is clearly in need of supervision,” juvenile prosecutor Riley Shaw told Menikos during his closing comments Friday.

Ethan Couch’s attorney, Scott Brown, told reporters that Menikos’ decision was “the right thing to do under the circumstances.”

Neither of Couch’s attorneys — Brown or Reagan Wynn — argued against Menikos’ decision to keep Couch in jail.

Brown said Couch has been “doing well” in jail.

Sheriff Dee Anderson said he’s received no complaints from or about Couch.

“Since he’s been in our custody, I do believe it has become more real to him,” Anderson said. “Before, I think he thought this was a game he was just going to play out.”

Packed hearing

Wreck victims’ families, Couch’s family and media packed the courtroom Friday.

Fred Couch, Ethan Couch’s father, attended along with Ethan Couch’s half-brother, Steven McWilliams.

His mother, Tonya Couch, was not at the hearing. She remains on 24-hour home confinement facing a felony charge of hindering apprehension for fleeing to Mexico with her son.

Victims and relatives at the hearing included:

▪ Eric Boyles, whose daughter, Shelby, and wife, Hollie, were killed outside their home in the 2013 wreck.

▪ Kevin McConnell, whose son, Lucas, then 12, was injured in the crash.

▪ Isaiah McLaughlin, who was also injured while sitting in the same truck as Lucas McConnell. The driver of the truck, Brian Jennings, was killed while standing nearby.

▪ Alex Lemus, whose brother, Sergio Molina, was paralyzed when he was thrown from the back of Couch’s pickup.

“Where are the funds?”

After the hearing, Molina, who was 16 at the time of the wreck, appeared in a wheelchair with his family. Lemus showed the media how he and Molina communicate.

“Do you still want to play soccer?” Lemus asked. Molina blinked and tried lifting his leg.

Standing next to Molina, Lemus referred to the Couch family’s reported wealth and asked for help.

“Where are the funds?” Lemus said. “We need some help.”

Lemus said finding a way for his family to move forward is more important than Couch receiving a strict punishment.

“One twenty days in jail? I did that — that’s nothing,” Lemus said. “My brother is doing more than probation.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Judge transfers ‘affluenza teen’ Ethan Couch to adult court."