The unsympathetic carrier of the affliction — Miller’s client, Ethan Couch, then 16 — pleaded guilty in 2013 to manslaughter charges after he killed four innocent people in a drunken-driving accident.
The sentencing judge said she was not moved by the “affluenza” defense, but nonetheless, she chose to sentence the son of privilege to 10 years of drug-and-alcohol-free probation, as well as a stint in a rehabilitation center.
Sometime after Couch emerged from a pricey Southern California rehab clinic known for offering equine therapy, yoga and martial arts instruction, Couch and his mother, Tonya, 48, headed to Mexico, whence young Couch missed a Dec. 10 appointment with his probation officer.
Bristling at the young man’s light sentence for an offense that left four dead, prosecutors have been trying to move Couch’s case to the adult criminal justice system, where probation violations invite tougher consequences, when he turns 19 in April.
While Ethan Couch may have to do up to four months for violating juvenile probation when he is returned to Texas, Tonya Couch faces two to 10 years if convicted on a felony charge of hindering apprehension.
Couch evaded a prison sentence even though he tested at three times the legal alcohol limit (for drivers 21 or older) and had traces of Valium in his system when his pickup truck swerved into a stalled SUV owned by Breanna Mitchell, 24.
