Ethan Couch is in custody … again.
So is his mother.
The so-called “Affluenza Teen” has been found in Mexico, where authorities are preparing to send him back to Texas.
Why the big deal? This is the nimrod who piled into a pickup in 2013 — when he was 16 years of age — and while roaring drunk plowed his vehicle into another vehicle, killing four people.
The kid got 10 years probation largely on the testimony of a shrink who blamed his ghastly behavior on the upbringing he received from his wealthy Fort Worth parents.
Thus, the term “affluenza” was born.
Then the kid — who’s now 18 — was seen taking part in a drinking game in violation of his probation; and after that, the kid failed to report to his probation officer. Can’t do that, young man.
So, Mom and Ethan went on the lam, ending up on the Mexican Riviera before the cops found them.
Texas law limits the amount of time Ethan can serve in jail; he faces a maximum of 120 days in the slammer.
Mom, though, ought to spend some serious time in The Joint.
What’s so ironic about all of this is that the “affluenza defense” has taken an odd turn toward validity.
Ethan Couch never should have been too drunk to drive. Did his parents enable his terrible behavior?
It seems that Mommy Couch’s accompanying her little pride and joy to another nation suggests that she truly has enabled Ethan’s criminal activity.
She deserves some hard time if a Texas court convicts her of aiding in her son’s flight from the law.
