FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The family of a Texas teenager
sentenced to probation after killing four people in a drunken-driving
wreck will pay for just a fraction of his court-ordered treatment, a
court official testified Friday.
Ethan Couch’s parents will be
charged $1,170 a month for his treatment at the North Texas State
Hospital in rural Vernon. The facility That amount would cover less than
two days of treatment, which costs $715 a day, the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram reported (http://bit.ly/1qoRLts
).
Couch’s
case drew national attention due in large part to his defense’s
argument that his wealthy parents had coddled him into a sense of
irresponsibility — a condition that a defense expert called "affluenza."
Couch,
17, killed four people last year when his vehicle rammed into a crowd
of people trying to help the driver of a disabled vehicle south of Fort
Worth. Investigators said he was driving his family company’s pickup
truck while drunk and with traces of Valium in his system.
Couch
admitted to causing the wreck and received 10 years’ probation from
State District Judge Jean Boyd rather than prison time, as prosecutors
and Couch’s victims wanted. Several of his victims have since sued the
Couch family, with most of them reaching confidential settlements.
Debbie
Spoonts, placement supervisor for Tarrant County Juvenile Services,
said the facility decided what Fred and Tonya Couch would pay based on a
sliding scale.
A message from The Associated Press seeking
comment from Spoonts on the facility’s payment policy was not
immediately returned Friday.
The teen’s family previously had
offered to pay for Couch to go to a $450,000-a-year rehabilitation
center near Newport Beach, Calif. Boyd rejected that request.
Ethan Couch’s attorney, Reagan Wynn, and Fred and Tonya Couch did not speak to the media after the
hearing.
Lance
Evans, the attorney for Couch’s parents, said after the hearing that
the family "respects the decision of the facility and of the court, and
will honor the payment system that the court has put in place."
Kevin
McConnell, the father of a child who was injured in the wreck, declined
to comment after the hearing on whether the amount the Couches will pay
is fair.
"That’s not my call," McConnell said. "We have a criminal justice system and a legal
system. That’s not my call to make."
McConnell’s family is suing the Couches. He said they will not accept a settlement and instead want a
jury trial.
___
Information from: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, http://www.star-telegram.com
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.