Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Judge orders no jail for teen in fatal car wreck

FORT WORTH, Texas — A judge has ordered no jail time for a Texas teenager in a drunken-driving crash that killed four people.

Ethan Couch was given probation last year for the wreck. He was back in court Wednesday after prosecutors requested 20 years in jail on charges related to two injured people.

The hearing was closed to the public. Defense attorney Reagan Wynn told reporters afterward that Judge Jean Boyd ordered the teen to be sent to a rehabilitation facility paid for by his parents.

The judge didn't identify the facility. However, the family previously offered to pay for a $450,000-a-year center in California.

The sentence has stirred debate, as has a defense expert who says Couch's wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility. The expert termed the condition "affluenza."

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