Missed Probation Leads to Mexico Manhunt
In 2013, Ethan Couch, 18 received a probation term for killing four people and injuring nine in a drunk driving accident when he was conviction of intoxication manslaughter in juvenile court. Ethan recently fled to Mexico with his mother. The pair was found on December 28 after Ethan missed an appointment with a probation officer on December 11. Ethan was found in a strip club drinking alcohol, which is a violation of his probation. He had changed his appearance, having grown facial hair and having dyed all of his hair black.
Officials believe that that Tonya Couch will be extradited back to her home state with her Texas charge of hindering apprehension of a felon. Tonya's attorney will not contest the extradition. Her bond is currently $1 million, and her charges could lead her to up to 10 years in prison.
Ethan is still with Mexican authorities, and his attorney, Fernando Benitez, is working on getting him back into the country. Benitez appealed the deportation, which could delay Ethan's return for either a day, a couple weeks, or several months. If Ethan decides to drop the appeal, he could be deported within 24 hours. Mexican authorities were going to deport his, but Benitez filed a writ of amparo on December 29. That motion requires authorities to explain to a judge why he should be deported, as opposed to extradited. Deportation is a lengthier process that is used for transferring suspects wanted in other countries. Benitez is questioning the United States' justification for wanting Ethan to be sent back to Texas. In an interview Benitez said, "It would be a tough sell for the U.S. to tell Mexico, 'you know what, this man was tried as a juvenile, pled guilty, was handed down his sentence and now five years later we don't think the sentence is fair and we want to retry him as an adult."
Texas authorities think that Ethan might be trying to drag out his time in Mexico until he turns 19 in April and can't be incarcerated under the state's juvenile court sentencing guidelines. Couch faces up to 120 days in jail for breaching his juvenile probation. If his probation is upgraded to an adult and he breaches it again, he could face up to 40 years in prison.
The 2013 trial caused outrage after a psychologist called by his defense team said he had "affluenza," because his wealthy parents coddled him. The condition is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, but after Ethan was convicted, he only received 10 years of probation and no incarceration.
Comments from Allen: What is more precious than a mother's love? Ethan's mom, charged with making sure he obeyed all the conditions of his juvenile probation for killing four people while driving drunk, instead drives him to Mexico where he goes to a bar full of naked women and maxes out the $2000 on his debit card. About this time, our affluenza victim is so drunk he can barely walk.
Fortunately for little Ethan, he had paid for escorts at the bar, so they were able to escort the "I'm-so-drunk-I-cannot-stand-up" Ethan to his hotel room, where Momma Couch paid for her precious child's wild and crazy night of drunken sex.
Gee, thanks mom!
Tonya Couch is now in the running for Mother of the Year...or Bad Mother of the Year, depending upon who is voting.
I think Ethan is going to beat the system by staying in Mexico and fighting extradition until it is too late for the Texas authorities to upgrade his probation to adult status. Not only that, but the time he sits in the Mexican jail fighting to avoid the consequences of his me-party will probably be applied to the jail time that awaits him in Texas.
That tells you how much confidence I have in Mexico's court system, which is famous for bending rules for those willing to pay for it.
Do not be surprised if Ethan returns to Texas only to be set free because he has already maxed out his juvenile jail time, and the judge and outraged public may not be able to do a thing about it.
Inquiring minds might want to know what will happen to Tonya Couch. The outraged Texas juvenile court judge will be able to sentence her for contempt of court and send her to jail for intentionally refusing to follow the court's order regarding supervising her son and making him available for hearings. Additionally, I would expect her to be charged with the Texas felony of "Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution" under which Tonya can be sentenced to 2-10 years in prison, and she can be forced to pay all of the costs of apprehending and extraditing her son from Mexico.
There is a very good chance that Tonya will spend more time in jail or prison than Ethan. Her bond was initially $1 million, but her lawyer was successful in getting that amount reduced on January 8 to $75,000. The purpose of a bond is to insure the defendant actually shows up in court on the days they are ordered to appear, not merely to keep someone in jail. If the defendant does not appear, the bail bondsman hires Dog or some other bounty hunter, who apprehends the defendant and drags him back to court against his will. The bond has to be high enough to take into account the defendant's inclination to flee. In this case, Tonya has already fled Texas, so the bond needs to be fairly high. However, she didn't kill anybody, she was being held to answer for a third-degree (low level) felony. $1 million was probably excessive. Tonya pled poverty as a reason for requiring a bail bond reduction, despite her being able to withdraw $30,000 from an account before fleeing to Mexico, and despite her ability to finance her son's all-out fight to remain in Mexico until it is too late to have his charges in Texas handled in an adult court. Although the bond seems low, the judge said Tonya will need to constantly wear a GPS monitor as a guard against her making another run for the border.
Allen is able to provide his services if the incident occurs in the following Idaho Areas: American Falls, Arco, Blackfoot, Boise, Burley, Driggs, Idaho Falls, Malad City, Pocatello, Rexburg, Rigby, Salmon, St. Anthony, Twin Falls, Bannock County, Bingham County, Bonneville County, Butte County, Cassia County, Clark County, Fremont County, Jefferson County, Lemhi County, Madison County, Oneida County, Power County, Teton County, and Twin Falls County.
Sources for more information:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/affluenza-mom-tonya-couch-to-appear-in-court-tuesday/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3383970/Boobies-Booties-Galore-affluenza-kid-Ethan-Couch-blew-2-000-two-HOOKERS-booze-Mexican-club-frequented-El-Chappo.html
Officials believe that that Tonya Couch will be extradited back to her home state with her Texas charge of hindering apprehension of a felon. Tonya's attorney will not contest the extradition. Her bond is currently $1 million, and her charges could lead her to up to 10 years in prison.
Ethan is still with Mexican authorities, and his attorney, Fernando Benitez, is working on getting him back into the country. Benitez appealed the deportation, which could delay Ethan's return for either a day, a couple weeks, or several months. If Ethan decides to drop the appeal, he could be deported within 24 hours. Mexican authorities were going to deport his, but Benitez filed a writ of amparo on December 29. That motion requires authorities to explain to a judge why he should be deported, as opposed to extradited. Deportation is a lengthier process that is used for transferring suspects wanted in other countries. Benitez is questioning the United States' justification for wanting Ethan to be sent back to Texas. In an interview Benitez said, "It would be a tough sell for the U.S. to tell Mexico, 'you know what, this man was tried as a juvenile, pled guilty, was handed down his sentence and now five years later we don't think the sentence is fair and we want to retry him as an adult."
Texas authorities think that Ethan might be trying to drag out his time in Mexico until he turns 19 in April and can't be incarcerated under the state's juvenile court sentencing guidelines. Couch faces up to 120 days in jail for breaching his juvenile probation. If his probation is upgraded to an adult and he breaches it again, he could face up to 40 years in prison.
The 2013 trial caused outrage after a psychologist called by his defense team said he had "affluenza," because his wealthy parents coddled him. The condition is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, but after Ethan was convicted, he only received 10 years of probation and no incarceration.
Comments from Allen: What is more precious than a mother's love? Ethan's mom, charged with making sure he obeyed all the conditions of his juvenile probation for killing four people while driving drunk, instead drives him to Mexico where he goes to a bar full of naked women and maxes out the $2000 on his debit card. About this time, our affluenza victim is so drunk he can barely walk.
Fortunately for little Ethan, he had paid for escorts at the bar, so they were able to escort the "I'm-so-drunk-I-cannot-stand-up" Ethan to his hotel room, where Momma Couch paid for her precious child's wild and crazy night of drunken sex.
Gee, thanks mom!Tonya Couch is now in the running for Mother of the Year...or Bad Mother of the Year, depending upon who is voting.
I think Ethan is going to beat the system by staying in Mexico and fighting extradition until it is too late for the Texas authorities to upgrade his probation to adult status. Not only that, but the time he sits in the Mexican jail fighting to avoid the consequences of his me-party will probably be applied to the jail time that awaits him in Texas.
That tells you how much confidence I have in Mexico's court system, which is famous for bending rules for those willing to pay for it.
Do not be surprised if Ethan returns to Texas only to be set free because he has already maxed out his juvenile jail time, and the judge and outraged public may not be able to do a thing about it.
Inquiring minds might want to know what will happen to Tonya Couch. The outraged Texas juvenile court judge will be able to sentence her for contempt of court and send her to jail for intentionally refusing to follow the court's order regarding supervising her son and making him available for hearings. Additionally, I would expect her to be charged with the Texas felony of "Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution" under which Tonya can be sentenced to 2-10 years in prison, and she can be forced to pay all of the costs of apprehending and extraditing her son from Mexico.
There is a very good chance that Tonya will spend more time in jail or prison than Ethan. Her bond was initially $1 million, but her lawyer was successful in getting that amount reduced on January 8 to $75,000. The purpose of a bond is to insure the defendant actually shows up in court on the days they are ordered to appear, not merely to keep someone in jail. If the defendant does not appear, the bail bondsman hires Dog or some other bounty hunter, who apprehends the defendant and drags him back to court against his will. The bond has to be high enough to take into account the defendant's inclination to flee. In this case, Tonya has already fled Texas, so the bond needs to be fairly high. However, she didn't kill anybody, she was being held to answer for a third-degree (low level) felony. $1 million was probably excessive. Tonya pled poverty as a reason for requiring a bail bond reduction, despite her being able to withdraw $30,000 from an account before fleeing to Mexico, and despite her ability to finance her son's all-out fight to remain in Mexico until it is too late to have his charges in Texas handled in an adult court. Although the bond seems low, the judge said Tonya will need to constantly wear a GPS monitor as a guard against her making another run for the border.
***********************************************************************************************************************
Allen Browning is an attorney in Idaho Falls, Idaho who handles personal injury and criminal defense. He has over 30 years of experience and handled thousands of cases. Allen handles cases from all over Idaho. Call (208) 542-2700 to set up a free consultation if you are facing legal trouble or you have been involved in an accident.
Also, check out browninglaw.net for more information about Allen and Browning Law.
Allen Browning can help with all personal injury claims including motor vehicle accidents,truck accidents, auto accidents, serious and disabling accidents, and wrongful death claims.
Allen Browning is an Idaho Falls attorney who can also help with drunk driving (DUI), traffic violations, Felony, Misdemeanor, Domestic Violence, Drug Crimes, Theft, Juvenile Crimes, battery and assault charges, Violent Crimes, and Probation/Parole Violations. He is one of the most experienced and successful criminal defense attorneys in Idaho.
Allen is able to provide his services if the incident occurs in the following Idaho Areas: American Falls, Arco, Blackfoot, Boise, Burley, Driggs, Idaho Falls, Malad City, Pocatello, Rexburg, Rigby, Salmon, St. Anthony, Twin Falls, Bannock County, Bingham County, Bonneville County, Butte County, Cassia County, Clark County, Fremont County, Jefferson County, Lemhi County, Madison County, Oneida County, Power County, Teton County, and Twin Falls County.
Sources for more information:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/affluenza-mom-tonya-couch-to-appear-in-court-tuesday/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3383970/Boobies-Booties-Galore-affluenza-kid-Ethan-Couch-blew-2-000-two-HOOKERS-booze-Mexican-club-frequented-El-Chappo.html
Comments
Post a Comment