Texas man who invoked ‘affluenza’ defence released from jail
FORT WORTH, Texas — Ethan Couch, who as a 16-year-old driver drunkenly struck and killed four pedestrians but dodged prison after suggesting at trial that his irresponsibility was a result of his entitled upbringing, walked free Monday after serving almost two years in a Texas jail on a probation violation.
Couch, 20, was released from the Tarrant County jail near Dallas on Monday morning, according to Tarrant County sheriff’s spokesman David McClelland, who provided no other details. It was not immediately clear where Couch went after leaving jail.
The group Mothers Against Drunk Driving issued a statement calling Couch’s short stint in jail “a grave injustice to the victims and their families who have been dealt life sentences because of one person’s devastating decision to drink and drive.”
Couch was found to have a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit for adult drivers after the crash in June 2013. He subsequently was charged with manslaughter.